Good for young Mr. Pearson. Per CNN:
The 13-year-old Internet phenom who gained national attention criticizing President Barack Obama and briefly was a part of the Ted Cruz campaign is renouncing conservatism, saying he’s looking to be a voice unbound by party ideology.
CJ Pearson told CNN on Friday that concerns about the Republican Party’s viewpoints on racial and gender disparity as well as youth issues convinced him he could no longer be a mouthpiece for conservatism.
“I was tired of being a champion of a party that turned a blind eye to racial discrimination. Tired of being a champion of any cause that denies equal rights to every American. Tired of being a champion of a party that doesn’t care about the issues important to young people,” Pearson wrote in an email…
“Over the past few days, I thought about essentially how I don’t want people to follow me because I’m that anti-Obama kid, or who called out Hillary Clinton or who took Bernie Sanders to task,” Pearson said. “I don’t want to be the conservative wonder kid that people follow because I make them feel good and like young people are part of their movement. I want to be followed because I’m the voice of a generation that doesn’t have a voice at the table.”
He said the video of Laquan McDonald being shot 16 times by a police officer in Chicago helped open his eyes to the systemic problems of racial discrimination in America and the need to look at the issues objectively…
Pearson commands a YouTube channel viewed by more than 5 million and a Facebook feed with more than 100,000 followers.
He told CNN he plans to continue to be a social media presence…
Yeah, like you had a choice about that last part, kid. Reason #32,587 why I’m grateful there was no YouTube back when I was a teenager with a big mouth and a spotty education!
Late Night Open Thread: “Conservative” Teenager Flees the CompoundPost + Comments (55)