CJ Pearson is often held up by conservatives as their answer to the Parkland kids—a sharp, articulate, politically active black teenager who is a no-questions-asked conservative Republican and Trump supporter. But Pearson seems to be emulating his dear one in a very disturbing way. It seems that someone forgot to tell him that it’s not acceptable to degrade women.
You may recall that a few months ago, fanatically pro-Trump podcaster Bill Mitchell—of “Your Voice America” fame—made clear that he was outraged at the outrage over Trump calling Stormy Daniels “Horseface.” As far as he was concerned, Trump wasn’t really degrading a woman, but calling out a “vile creature.” Pearson merrily joined in on this slut-shaming campaign by retweeting Mitchell’s outrageous swipe at Stormy.
Pearson lives with his grandparents, Willie and Robin Pearson, in Evans, Georgia, a suburb of Augusta. Any parent or guardian with any kind of love for their son would take his phone away upon seeing this kind of garbage, and not give it back until he apologized. Indeed, if I’d been Pearson’s father or grandfather, he’d have a hard sell to make to convince me not to smash it to bits right then and there. But apparently Pearson’s grandparents are okay with this.
Apparently they’re also okay with their grandson giving a platform to people who make it their business to troll and degrade women and others. That’s the only conclusion you can draw from the first edition of Pearson’s new podcast, “Talk of the Culture.” His first guest was none other than Milo Yiannopoulos.
You knew this was going off the rails when Pearson claimed he was giving a voice to “the people the media wants you to know nothing about,” and called Milo “the most lied about and censored man in America.” Um, CJ? You’re talking about a guy who has been documented as a notorious troll and misogynist, an apologist for rape culture and pedophilia, and an enabler of racist thugs.
Early on, Pearson proved beyond any doubt that he needs a quick lesson in respect for women. Milo railed that he faced a lot of roadblocks because media outlets were dominated by “35 to 45-year-old single childless spinsters.” Pearson let him speak his piece. Incredible—but less so when you consider Pearson had no qualms about joining a slut-shaming campaign.
Again I ask—what parent or guardian with any kind of love for their son would be okay with this? Imagine if Cameron Kasky and David Hogg saw fit to make sexist and degrading remarks about Dana Loesch. We would rightly be wondering if their parents were asleep at the switch.
This is where rape culture starts, folks. Remember, Brock Turner would have never even thought about sending pictures of his victims’ breasts to his teammates on Stanford’s swim team if he hadn’t gotten the impression somewhere down the line that this was acceptable. Someone needs to sit Pearson down and tell him that respect for women is not optional. Otherwise, he’s going down a path that could keep him from getting into college or getting a job.