PragerU Live: Pop Artist Joy Villa on Why She Supports Donald Trump (3/10)

so there's a lot of people in the office today that I talked uh to about you coming on they were very excited about it oh awesome that's great well I've been watching your guys's videos on YouTube I'm just like oh it's amazing you have a physical University as well no no people ask us that all the time like will we ever become a Hillsdale College and we're like no we feel like the impact is greater uh it's just it's just the name because Dennis likes to say that we're the thoughts and the ideas that should be taught at University but isn't so yeah as our founder prer you yeah it's good what was the first video you watched I the first one I watched was the um W there's no gender wage Gap nice there's no gender gap I love that that was really we did a Facebook live with Christina the other day she's awesome but oh she's amazing I've seen her speak you know with Milo and with a a Crowder and they the thing their tour I mean it's just freaking she's awesome and the way she presented it and it was just very factual and I was like whoa these stat nobody's talking about the different variables yeah that's a lot of people don't take into consideration someone says a statistic you know you can't just take that as Point Blank period there's so many variables and so many different things and men and women are different that doesn't mean it's sexist we're different we choose different paths and it's beautiful you know so we're gonna we're going to get started real quick okay okay great hey everyone this is Elicia Krauss I'm here at the Prager uhq and today we have a kind of random but also super fun Facebook live just for you our loyal followers we've been working on for a while with pop artist Joy V she's here and you've probably heard of her you might have even bought her EP because she wore the make America grid again dress to the gramys that caused a buzz and an international articles I mean everywhere every country all my friends in other countries were asking me about it it was insane uh the media blowup that there was over this dress but her EP I'm make the static hit number one on Amazon Amazon and iTunes and her album by the same name hit number 12 on the Billboard Chart soon after Joy thank you so much for being with us today yeah it's great to be here thank you for inviting me so much fun and you're just down the road we're both what on the west coast so that that's good time worked out for everybody perfect yeah Los Angeles so how did you come up with the idea of wearing this make America great again dress to the Grammys question so my designer Andre Sano he is a legal immigrant from the Philippines he's gay he's a trump supporter we both were talking you know the the night of the election we both called each other and he was crying and we're just so happy you know that Trump got elected because we both voted for and uh we were both very secretive about it as we have to be kind of in the industry he's a fashion designer he's been on Rihanna's show he's been around you know he designed a lot of stuff he lives in San Diego we're both in Hollywood kind of scene and after the women's March he called me he was crying not for good reason this time for a bad reason he was like they're calling him a Nazi they're doing threats they're saying we want to bomb the White House they're saying that he's horrible and all these offensive things and they're literally protesting they're using women supposed to be a women's rights platform to protest against our president like we have to change this and I was like yeah let's CH The Narrative so he came up with the concept he says I have an idea and I thought about it and I said okay yes let's do it so that's how it came about and it was I was going to wear something different to the Grammys our third Grammys together that he's designed an outfit for me and this year we decided to just really State our political views our support it's not even about politics it's about support for America and being united that's what that was our whole message of Love tolerance accepts and really appreciating our president for what he's doing and to tell people let's let's give him a chance let's stop hate it's so funny because you use those words that liberals and leftist typically use about love acceptance and tolerance even though they're the ones that don't typically do those attributes towards other people because like you mentioned you and your designer feel very uh ostracized by the I guess the creative Community yes it's a big deal out here I mean I have I talk every day to my friends who are still in the entertainment industry um who are like I totally support you they're sending me private messages they're calling me out they're like I support you I also voted for Trump but I can't say it um in fact there's an artist who said literally their manager is anti-trump their publicist is an outspoken anti-trump not just Pro Hillary or Pro somebody else but Lally anti-trump person he blogs on The Daily and that's their publicist I said Point Blank period fire your publicist because they're not going to protect you you know I'm lucky enough that my publicist he's a um he's an immigrant from Canada and he says I'm so proud to have you as a client and he's proud that I am you know Rick Rick they're like family my publicist my management my manager is like well I didn't vote for Trump I but I support you you know so nobody in my team has a problem with it because otherwise it would just create so much chaos there's already enough chaos out there and we're really about being stable um and being a positive message and I I say like my brother he didn't vote for Trump he doesn't agree with the politics but he's like I'm not going to be a hater I'm like let's see what the guy's going to do I said that's a sane approach to it because we need sanity in this country not this division not this hate not this anger under the guise of well you're wrong so I'm going to hate you when you're not even listening to what I'm saying so we want to change it because of the atmosphere that we just kind of touched on a little bit did anyone try to talk you out of wearing this dress to the Grammys you know my own husband did he he's a he's a from Denmark and he says joy you know he's like honey he's like he was a little scared he's concerned you know he's like I don't want you to get attacked or something to happen to you because you're wearing this he just says you know you're going to get a lot of hate and you can turn off a lot of people I said I know but you know a radical artist this is what I have to do I have to use my voice to empower I to I have to say what I believe I've been preaching the same message of love and tolerance you know before I did not campaign for Trump I was not pro Trump supporter during the election in fact I I stayed away from politics altogether I was overseas I was in Denmark I was in Asia all I saw were the bad news headlines and I was just like oh I can't even face it I can't confront it it's so bad then when I came back to the US I I started actually talking to my friends I said well who are you voting for what what's going on they're like oh yeah we're voting for Trump Secret some people were out and about in my church my fellowship and my you know my in my different circles and I started going well why are you voting for Trump and they said well we believe he's going to do a strong economy so I said you know what let me look at him up I knew I wasn't going to vote for Hillary um I don't vote the same Republican party every ticket I was raised a conservative my dad's a preacher you know we grew up Christian conservative we watch Fox News we but I listen to all different sides and I said well maybe it's time for me to get back a little bit to looking at politics and confronting this issue that is drawing so many eyeballs and I looked at what he's been saying he's been saying the same thing for the last 30 years um Donald Trump he wants to make the economy strong he wants to make America great he wants to make the dollar strong he wants to put money back in the American people and in the on American soil buying from the USA and I thought you know what I support him and I voted and I'm proud I did so when you were actually at the Grammys among those other industry types what was the reaction from from other celebrities on the red carpet and their managers and publicists and everybody else that we see running around that isn't dressed to the nines yeah well that's a good really good question so um I don't like to to to shine too much light on the haters because we all have trolls we all have haters as I'm sure you know but I can't say there was a well-known artist female artist that I listened to and that I was buyer music I no longer will I'm not going to name names but I was actually in the restroom at the Grammys like backstage and she gave me a real dirty look I said oh I like your dress she had like a is pretty dressed and she goes and she just really gave me a nasty look and she just was like she didn't say anything and I thought wow okay like typically a thank you is okay even if you don't like the other chicks dress which sometimes you're still nice and say you like say yeah go go get it girl but you don't have to be nasty you know if I saw somebody wearing like Lena Dunham or someone wearing a Hillary dress I wouldn't be like I just go okay she's using her power of speech in America great no problem you're just you're a person in a dress you're not hurting me so the backlash in person was dirty looks uh wrinkled noses shock somebody came up from one of the networks and said we just our producer wants to ask you is this a real thing or is this a joke did you actually vote for Trump soon as I walked off the red carpet she came running she goes we want to know is this is this real or is this a joke I was like I voted for Trump yeah oh okay good thanks we'll let him know and it was like I think people were shocked I think people thought I was trolling them and that I was actually being sarcastic I was watching it live I was watching the red carpet live on E like I mean any other normal person in LA because I like to see the fashion stuff and the and the comments on Twitter as it was happening were either you know this is a desperate publicity stunt or she's totally trolling Trump voters uh because you know in the mind of those tolerant leftists again How could an African-American woman ever support you know Republican candidate is the africanamerican um Italian American my grandparents were immigrants they immigrated to this country and Cherokee and Chaka Native American yeah that's my ethnic background so it's really as anti-racist as you can get I mean it's really just and I'm American I'm American first you know I'm a female I'm an Entertainer yes I'm all these things but I am an American first and foremost and I don't believe that division in our country is a good thing at all and I just people really it's a it's a sad thing to think that when you support the actual president that people first ideas that it's a publicity stunt it's a joke it's being sarcastic I thought really I could do a lot of other things that would be sarcastic why would I do this and it actually was I was laughing at it I was like Wow people really think this is a joke who would joke like this and go haha just kidding it's not apparently they're out there so so you're not this is this isn't the first time that you've turned head heads on the red carpet though for your unique dresses that you've worn to award shows like in the past so what inspire spires you to kind of push the edge of fashion especially you know in in when you have all eyes on you yeah I love I love pushing the edge in fashion I love I'm a I'm a fashionista as people have called me I love fashion I love creation I'm an artist I also paint and draw I was raised in a very artistic household my parents let me do art and write poetry and play guitar and play piano my mom sing in the choir we were just a really artistic household we would instead of watching TV we would do art and so for me artistic expression is about moving the culture forward and moving it to the to the Future so I like to push the envelope whether that's you know body bearing Fashions or creation that that speaks my mind or something just really different if it makes you slightly uncomfortable it probably means I'm I'm on the right path that's I guess that's a good way to put it so from the marketing perspective you know back to this real quick the attention that you're dressed got has been pretty helpful as I mentioned in your introduction congrats on your EP I make the static hitting number one on Amazon and iTunes and then your album I make the static people thought would make the Billboard top 10 it ended up hitting number 12 and so can you talk about what this has done for your career in the last SE several weeks not just you know this kind of like coming out of the closet moment for you yes absolutely it isn't coming out of the closet for sure and that's what a lot of my friends say too and my G I feel like I'm still in the closet it's say yeah come out and as Andre surrounded would say come out you hermit crabs so yeah I mean creative wise and career-wise it's really it's amazing I did not expect that every year I've taken a chance in my Fashions and there's been a spike in interest of course anytime you're on a red carpet you're always promoting something you know your newest movie every artist promotes something when they go out so of course it's like wow if I were to sell more albums that would be great but I wasn't banking on it because it didn't normally happen you know I when I sell albums it's usually when I do my concerts in person that's when I sell a lot of albums and um this was really something different this was people saying I'm going to support you and then wow I actually like your music so it's not just that you have the same belief system as I do and the same ethical standing um but also your music is really good so to be discovered for wearing that dress is actually really extraordinary I couldn't have I couldn't have planned it any other way as an artist I just keep creating I always knew eyeballs would be on me um I've always known that this was my life I put my heart soul into creating artist uh artistic Creations to creating good music I write all My Own lyrics I I do my own music videos you know so this is something I would continue to do whether eyeballs were on me or not so to have all this inflow of wow we'd like to book you for this event wow we like to you know sign you to our label wow we like you to be in this feature film like all that is coming in right now and I'm just kind of with my team scrambling to decide what's my next project and not scrambling but deciding on what's the next choice and I've got some really exciting stuff up my sleeve that's great so would you consider you talked about your Conservative Christian background as in your childhood and stuff would you consider yourself a Republican and previous to this had you supported and voted for Republican candidates in the past yes um you know I have my elephant ears right here if you can see that and my adorable deplorable t-shirt so definitely voted Republican this year I have normally I was raised Republican Conservative Christian I definitely say I'm a conservative and uh you know I I lean towards let me explore the candidates what's going to be the best what do I agree with I always I don't vote the Republicans straight through for me I I have to see what do these people stand for and um what's going to be the best in my my viewpoint I encourage other people to do that as well what I'm seeing now is the Conservative Republican the Republic Millennials like Milo and a lot of people you know who are stirring up stuff really are the counterculture and that's 100% of what I am I would say I'm a republican I'm a conservative um in political wise I agree more I I want less government control I want more freedom more freedom of speech less uh you know no you can't say that because it offends someone um I really want more freedom and I I believe that being a conservative really is pointing that direction so for for me yes I probably say that so you mentioned earlier that your husband is an immigrant from Denmark your publicist is an immigrant from Canada and the designer of of your dresses not just this one but other red carpet looks that you've had in the past Andre Sorano is an immigrant from the Philippines I believe so what's your response to people who believe that the Republican party is anti-immigrant well I would say you know Andre Serano or an immigrant from the Philippines one of my um YouTube commenter said you know you say like America's built on immigrants but my opinion is America's built on citizens and I was like that's actually a good Viewpoint you know Andre Sano he's he immigrated from the Philippines so he is an immigrant but he's a citizen he's an American citizen so he got his legal citizenship you know it took him years to do that and he did it all right uh my husband is in the process of getting his green card and getting American citizenship he's he's not an American citizen right now we just got married so he's he's in that process and my publicist an American citizen immigrated from Canada so I think there's really there's a big difference as well is what we're saying when we say immigration legal immigration uh with with an idea to be a citizen and go through the legal channels and illegal immigration and that is what we're talking about here not to get too political but you did ask me a direct question I say illegal is illegal and God bless people want to become to want to come to this country and be a working member of this of this nation and become a citizen and really want to put Power and themselves and their family and their their whole voice towards making America stronger that's what makes this country great wherever you come from as long as you're you're here and you're making America stronger I mean that's the legal way to do it I can't go to Denmark and say hey I want to I want to get freebies can you take care of me but I don't want to become a citizen you know they would say no you're gonna have to become a citizen you're going to have to learn our language and you're going to have to take this test and that's just what's expected so that's not anything weird that's what every country does so I would say for people who think it's like um that we're anti-immigration or other people anti-immigration that's absolutely not true we're legal immigration and you can become a citizen and that's how it's always been it's a good thing so you're recently in Washington DC at a and you spoke at a gays for Trump rally and most of the gay in lesbian Community though is very anti-trump and they're scared of trump and vice president Mike Pence it was one of the biggest attacks against Pence during the general election cycle so do you think that they have a reason to be worried about gay rights under this Administration I mean I don't I personally don't think so speaking to um other gays and lesbians and people that I know who are prot Trump supporters and very awesome proud Americans you know lesbians for Trump was at that Gaye for Trump March it was put on by Peter boyin of gaze for Trump he actually started March for Trump so it was not just a gaze for Trump March it was put on by gays for Trump but it was like all people and one of the signs by the lesbians for Trump said um I'm I'm lesbian married um but I'm American first so that is kind of the thing it's like if you're an American citizen and I know there's this whole movement not my president and all that stuff and that if you're an American citizen if you live in this country he is your president you don't have to agree with everything he says you know you don't even have to give him a chance but you can't say well I'm just going to boycott the president that's not how it works if you're on our soil you're he's your president you can leave somewhere else and get a citizenship somewhere else and he won't be your president that's fine you're free to do what you want but as long as he's here and elected in our legal and fair system he is your president so being disrespectful is not going to get any anything started you know it's it's not going to get anything it's not going to change anything and I want to change the narrative to love and acceptance having a discussion having an intelligent discussion um you know gays and lesbians are obviously included in the in the in the discussion there's a lot of freedom here America's one of the most free places for um same-sex couplings I mean let's let's face it a lot of other countries it's not legal it's not okay and we really embrace it history has changed it's been a long time coming for a lot of Rights but we have those here and the most important thing is we're moving towards a very free open and positive Society I really do think it's a change that the change is coming it's it's happening now I I believe that Trump is ushering in a new era of of awareness and I'm proud that he's my president and I want people to just say Hey listen give them a chance I have to totally agree you know please do your research look on both sides from everything don't take my word for it don't take anyone's word for it but stop the hate messages that's never okay so final question and because our viewers really want to know where they should go to follow you support you and uh you know keep track of what you're doing and where you're going yeah absolutely you can go to Joy villa.com um I have some uh wristbands that I just released that are Joy Villa wristbands and 50% goes to Veterans Affairs my dad was a veteran and my aunt is a veteran of the Marines my dad was a veteran of the army a lot of family I have a big family of military I really really support our military and our veterans so 50% of those sales go to support Veterans Affairs go to joy.com to order limited edition wristbands uh my autographed album is at Joy villa.com you can follow me on Twitter Joy corvilla Instagram at jooy Villa and uh just become part of the joy tribe that's what I call my followers there's a lot of love everyone needs a little more joy in their life so thank you so much for uh you know the meaning of it and you apparently too so thanks so much for making time for us today have a wonderful Friday and a really great weekend and uh thanks for being a fan of prageru it's been great chat prer you yeah yes thank you bye bye are we all good are we good cut sorry there was I was waiting for the cut like from from Jared and that's why I was just like smiling at the camera sorry about that thank you so much for your time the cut on the live is always we app