Small group of college Republicans at UW rallied together to watch State of the Union

SEATTLE – A handful of University of Washington students gathered to watch the State of the Union.  Many of them are members of the UW College Republicans.

Promise pizza at a college even and you’re sure to bring-in students.  Promise the president and you’ll get college republicans headed by their president Chevy Swanson.  He says the group itself wasn’t always pro Trump.

“Early on in the election, everyone in the club had a different person they wanted to go for and at the time.  No one in the club was going for Trump,” said Swanson.

But when he took office, Swanson says Trump won over more students within the group.  But controversy came when the UW College Republicans invited controversial speaker Milo Yiannopolous to campus.

“When we invited him, we were not expecting what we got at all,” said Swanson.



While seemingly outnumbered, Swanson says conservatives on campus rallied together.

“It was a lot harder at first when I didn’t know people who supported Trump,” said Swanson.

Along with the College Republicans came Christine Cisneros.  The radio host showed up looking for like-minded conservatives.

“Once in a while I really like being around people who are thinking about how our country is going to subsist and how we’re going to move to prosperity and I really think that conservatism does move everyone that way,” said Cisneros.

Young and middle-aged, male and female, the small-yet-proud group says it’s the president’s policies they support.  Swanson says he doesn’t pay attention to what some call disparaging comments or the many things he’s been accused of.

“Is Trump a racist? I don’t think so, I am gay.  I am a woman. I am middle-aged.  I am Hispanic and I am overweight. I’m probably somebody who could collect something. And I find the environment I live in this country with Trump…I don’t believe he’s a racist, I don’t believe he’s a sexist,” said Cisneros.

“When you look at the things that someone does that you might not necessarily agree with, that’s a personal disagreement.  When you look at the long-lasting effects of policy that affects millions of people, I would much rather put that above small disagreements with a candidate,” said Trump.

So they sat side-by-side in solidarity in Washington state with the commander-in-chief in Washington, D.C.