C.J. Pearson, a 13-year-old online conservative activist, seems to be overly influenced by Fox News’ hateful rhetoric. It’s not wrong that he has decided to take on political issues. However, I take umbrage with how he has been sensationalized.
From the right, Pearson has been hailed as an intelligent young man, and on the left, he’s seen as brainwashed. The fact is, he’s 13. At 13, it’s possible a large amount of one’s political views come from one’s parents, directly or indirectly. Like a sponge, Pearson might have soaked up the views of his parents and those around him, or he might be thinking completely independently. There is no way to know, but his activism shows how the Republican Party is gradually giving consideration to facts and more to sensationalism.
Pearson recently claimed that he was blocked from following President Obama on Obama’s Twitter account, @POTUS. Even if Obama were able to block Pearson on Twitter, I doubt he would. Pearson is already learning from the likes of Carly Fiorina, Donald Trump and those who would twist the truth to their liking — whether it’s manufacturing information from a Planned Parenthood video or claiming Obama was born in Kenya. Pearson has also continued to further Islamophobic rhetoric, criticizing Obama for inviting Ahmed Mohamed to the White House.
It’s good to be informed, even if you’re not yet of voting age. But if there were a 13-year-old progressive vlogger making scathing criticisms about the right, they wouldn’t even be dignified with a segment on a major news network. Factual errors on the campaign trail are looking less like genuine mistakes and more like attempts to mislead.
As the Republican race turns into a bloodbath, the candidates are caring less and less about the facts, and the rallying around a conservative teenage vlogger is just one symptom of this. Instead, they’re resorting to tired arguments about liberal bias. The Republican candidates need to start talking concretely and backing up their claims with facts if they want to be taken seriously.
Ultimately, if one of them is elected president, they will have to represent all people and make decisions based on facts, not just rumor and speculation. It’s disturbing when candidates like Trump continue to believe that Obama is not a U.S. citizen or that vaccines are dangerous. It’s clear the kind of policies and ideas that Republican candidates are pushing would be great for some, but not all Americans.
Eventually the tactic of spewing lies will come to backfire. Campaigning without regard for facts cannot continue. The inflammatory Planned Parenthood videos continue to be referenced by the candidates despite how misleading they are. Fiorina recently referenced a video where there is a fetus being kept alive in order to harvest its brain.
The video did not actually exist, but that didn’t stop her PAC from creating one. In fact, most of the video was not linked to Planned Parenthood at all. Rubio claimed the women visiting Planned Parenthood for an abortion make some sort of profit.
These counter-factual statements are not just mistakes. Part of being a politician is having a carefully constructed appearance and putting more thought into what you say. It’s difficult to believe that the false statements Republican candidates are making are unrehearsed and not meticulously put together behind the scenes.
Nicole Dan is a UF political science sophomore. Her column appears on Mondays.
