The president of the NYU College Republicans resigned on Sunday after calling Stern first-year Barron Trump “an oddity on campus” in an interview with Vanity Fair.
Former club president Kaya Walker told the magazine that President Donald Trump’s son has been subject to excessive attention since enrolling in the university last fall. Five days after the article’s publishing, the College Republicans of America’s national chapter issued a statement criticizing Walker’s “inappropriate” response and confirmed that she had just resigned the night before. The organization also said that CRA president Will Donahue is “extending an invitation” for Barron to join the NYU chapter.
Speaking about Barron, Walker had told Vanity Fair that “He goes to class, he goes home,” and that “he’s sort of like an oddity on campus.” In a letter to John Parker, chair of the New York State Federation of College Republicans, Walker condemned the Vanity Fair article as a “malicious misreading” of her words.
“I was merely describing the ugly side of our culture on campus and worldwide that delights in forming parasocial relationships with celebrities,” Walker wrote. “We saw the same thing happen with the Sprouse twins being followed around and photographed during their time here and we are seeing it again now with people posting pictures of Barron on their Instagram stories for clout.”
Donahue said in an interview with WSN that the organization did not force Walker out of her role, but rather recommended that she step away after Vanity Fair “may have taken her words out of context.”
“It is our policy that students do not talk to left-wing media sources without approval,” Donahue said. “Rather than saying something along the lines of ‘Barron is quite normal under the circumstances,’ she chose poor wording, and the media ran with it.”
Saha Guerrero, the president of the NYU College Democrats, told WSN that the group is permitted to speak with the media without consulting its national chapter.
In a statement, the CRA said that Barron is “an impressive young man with tremendous potential” and that the organization would “enthusiastically welcome him into our leadership ranks.” Barron has had no communication with the CRA or publicly expressed interest in joining on-campus political groups.
Walker’s initial statement gained traction after a post on X received over 9 million views in two days. Since she officially stepped down, national news outlets including The New York Times, The Economic Times and The Independent have covered her resignation.
Contact Amelia Hernandez Gioia at [email protected].
