JC Pearson is a conservative commentator, pundit, and political activist. He is running for the Georgia House of Representatives in a special election being held on Tuesday, November 6th. In this episode, CJ talks about how he got started in politics, how he became a conservative voice in the conservative movement, and why he s running for Congress.
00:00:00.540Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line, but first...
00:00:10.980There, the last one. Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that refreshes.
00:00:18.060Welcome back to the Gains for Girls podcast. I hope everyone has been enjoying the Republican presidential primary process play out.
00:00:35.100You look at these issues happening around the country, like crime rate, border security, inflation, academia, and corporate America being riddled with these DDI initiatives, even these airline companies now, like United.
00:00:48.900I mean, the list goes on. And I think it's pretty easy to see those things and get down and feel like there's little hope or nothing that can be done to get America back on track to what it once was.
00:00:59.360But right now, after watching all of the Republican presidential things, I feel hopeful. It's truthfully the most hopeful I felt in a while.
00:01:09.020And our guest today is no exception to that. He gives me hope. He is someone who is young, who is fierce, who is wise beyond his years, and who saw a problem and has taken the initiative to give a solution.
00:01:27.360Well, CJ, I am so glad that you came on. I'm so glad, really, that we've been able to develop a friendship over these past few months.
00:01:35.040And now seeing everything you're doing, it's really just incredible.
00:01:38.380And so I just wanted you to have the opportunity to tell us a little bit about who you are and really how you got involved in politics.
00:01:47.180Yeah, well, Riley, thank you so much for having me. It's always good to talk with you and good to see you.
00:01:51.100You know, this is such an interesting moment right now in my life.
00:01:55.840You know, for nearly a decade, I've been on the front lines of the conservative movement, you know, fighting against the radical left, standing up for Georgians and advocating for America's next generation.
00:02:03.700I started all of this when I was just 12 years old, making a YouTube video in my bedroom at home, which was a little ironic because my grandparents, who raised me, lifelong Democrats.
00:02:14.500And they had bought me that camcorder for Christmas, which turned out probably to be the worst investment they ever made.
00:02:20.640Because I made this video because Rudy Giuliani was being called a racist, a bigot, because he had criticized Barack Obama at the time.
00:02:27.080And even me at 12 years old thought that it was absolutely absurd, this idea that you wouldn't be able to criticize the first black president for his entire presidency just because of the color of his skin.
00:02:36.400And so I turned on that camcorder. I made a YouTube video and I said he was right.
00:02:40.940Rudy Giuliani was absolutely right. President Obama does not love America because if he did, he wouldn't call ISIS the JV team.
00:02:47.240He would actually not try to redistribute wealth. He would help people become more successful, which he didn't do in his presidency.
00:02:53.200And that video went absolutely viral that same week.
00:02:56.400I ended up on Fox News, which is still something I hold against those producers.
00:03:00.420You know, allowing me on national television with voice cracks and acne is just something that I cannot forgive.
00:03:07.040But it was the start of something incredible.
00:03:09.860I, you know, kept making content, kept building my platform over the years.
00:03:14.120And we've been able to do great things in terms of bringing more young people over to the party.
00:03:18.800You know, went to college at the University of Alabama.
00:03:53.660It's been a sprint. Just two weeks ago, we announced that we were running for this office.
00:03:57.460And literally in just 19, 20 days, we're going to have Election Day.
00:04:02.860And so we've been crisscrossing community, talking to my neighbors, rallying support.
00:04:07.180And I've been clear, this campaign isn't about me.
00:04:10.240I think it's about the next generation.
00:04:12.220You know, every single year you hear these career politicians talk about this election is so critical because the next generation is on the line.
00:04:44.260Yeah, the ripe age of 21, you're getting there.
00:04:48.880You're going to start getting there next.
00:04:52.320But I guess I wanted to ask you, I think Georgia had a lot of national attention, a lot of eyes on Georgia the past two, three, four years.
00:05:02.400We saw what happened in the Senate race with Herschel Walker, which went into a runoff.
00:05:07.260So Georgia's kind of been this this purple state.
00:05:35.040And I think the problem therein lies with the fact that we have all these people moving from these blue states and bringing their left wing values and voting the same way when they get here.
00:05:44.940I'm sorry, but you don't get to California, my Georgia.
00:05:49.620You don't get to come to Georgia and push the same disastrous policies that made you leave in the first place.
00:05:55.000And, you know, when it came to this race, you know, I think the nation should have Georgia on its mind right now.
00:05:59.740The road to the White House will lead through this state.
00:06:01.960And if we don't win Georgia, we don't win the White House.
00:06:05.140And so I think it's so critical for us to just not have go along to get along Republicans in office.
00:06:09.900We need fighters because at the end of the day, it's, you know, even formerly red states like Georgia, safe havens for conservative values are under attack.
00:06:18.360You have people trying to inject their left wing values into our schools, our libraries, and trying to corrupt the very things that made Georgia a great place to raise your children to begin with.
00:06:28.420You know, just the other day, I was actually at our county library, and Columbia County is a very conservative community.
00:06:33.820I went to our county library, and I found a book.
00:06:53.120But, you know, you asked the question, you know, why did I get into this race?
00:06:56.560You know, I looked at the candidates who had announced, and I looked at them, and I think they're very nice guys.
00:07:01.200I think Gary Richardson and Jim Steed, great local guys, incredible people, and they love our community.
00:07:08.760But I don't think this is the time for people who need on-the-job training.
00:07:11.700I don't think this is the time for people who don't have the resolve to fight the tough fights that we need to save this state, to save this country.
00:07:18.520But also, too, you know, a lot of people have talked about this race and talked about the historic nature that it would have.
00:07:23.800Not only would I be the youngest member of the legislature, but the youngest Black legislator in America would be a Republican.
00:07:29.920Just imagine how bad that's going to make the left.
00:07:33.280But I see it as an opportunity, though, to crisscross the state, to go into communities that typically Republicans don't go,
00:07:39.820and to be an ambassador for our values and our policies.
00:07:43.260I think the Black community is waking up.
00:07:44.900You know, when you go into a Black barbershop, a Black church, there are people who are sick and tired of being sick and tired when it comes to Joe Biden and his disastrous policies and the impact that they've had on him.
00:07:55.260And so when I look at the opportunity to really grow the party, I think it's something that I don't take lightly.
00:08:02.420Because I've always said this has always been my philosophy.
00:08:04.600We need to grow the congregation, not just preach to the choir, with young people, with minorities.
00:08:10.500And we also need to turn out the base.
00:08:12.200We need everyone to take back this country.
00:08:22.120And you mentioned kind of reaching across these boundaries, whether that be age, whether that be race, whether that be sexual orientation, or whatever these identities or categories, shall we say, whatever they are, reaching across and persuading people, really highlighting, I think, of course, the good that's being done in the Republican Party right now.
00:08:41.920But also highlighting the, as you said, the disastrous policies and ideas in place, being put in place by the Democrats.
00:08:50.520But speaking of kind of growing the youth, being someone who's so young yourself, you've done a lot of work with the Youth Advisory Committee, which is a part, it's a subset of the RNC with the goal of winning over these millennial voters.
00:09:03.080And so I guess someone who, myself included, you know, being a part of this younger demographic, what's, you know, what's kind of the vibe of these young voters this election?
00:09:14.800I think especially, too, as it pertains to even the presidential election, what is, what are you noticing among young voters?
00:09:20.960Yeah, I think young people are sick of Joe Biden.
00:09:23.120I think they're going through the same issues that the majority of Americans are going through, which is, you know, you go to the grocery store and prices are insane.
00:09:30.320You go to the gas station, prices are insane.
00:09:32.320It's expensive to even exist in Joe Biden's America.
00:09:37.600And I also think that the left has overplayed their hand with their radicalism.
00:09:40.920You look at, you know, them pushing, you know, biological men into women's sports, which I know is an issue, of course, you have been incredibly passionate about and effective on.
00:09:49.240And also, too, just issues when it comes to using the same locker rooms as biological men, using the same, you know, bathrooms as biological men, forcing women into those positions.
00:10:00.560And when I talk to girls and, you know, you know, young women who are not conservative or don't identify as that or maybe not even political at all, actually, those are issues that really animate them and really get them energized, I think, for the conservative cause.
00:10:14.700And so I think that we're making a lot of inroads with young people.
00:10:17.600I think, you know, one thing that I think that we ought to do and we've got to encourage people to do is that for a long time, you know, conservatives have been okay with being the silent majority.
00:10:29.220You know, it's time for us to get rowdy.
00:10:30.800It's time for us to be the loudest hell majority.
00:10:32.960And to go out and say that what's happening in this country is wrong, what the left is doing is absolutely moralist and just baseless and just not a reflection of what our country is and what we believe.
00:10:45.920And I think that the more that we do that, the more that we stand on business, that we can get more young people to stand up and fight for what they believe in because they'll realize there are actually a lot more people in their corner than they could ever imagine.
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00:11:28.860And you mentioned the left kind of overplaying their hand.
00:11:33.400If you look through history, this is exactly how this works, right?
00:11:52.780We need to stop funding organizations that hate you, quite frankly, shopping your values, running for school board, running for office like you're doing.
00:12:04.200So I guess I just want to ask too, again, being someone who's young, I hear it all the time.
00:12:11.800And it kind of frustrates me beyond belief, but I can understand where people are coming from.
00:12:16.660People will say it's Gen Z who's going to ruin this country.
00:12:21.860But what's your response when someone says that?
00:12:24.840You know, I think at the end of the day, you know, Ronald Reagan once said that freedom is just one generation away from extinction.
00:12:30.040And the reason I'm involved, the reason I'm in this race, the reason I've been fighting for conservative values since I was 12 years old is because I refuse to allow it to be our generation.
00:12:39.480I think that we cannot give up on the future of America.
00:12:42.480And Gen Z is the future of this country.
00:12:45.120I think we ought to talk to them about what we believe, why we believe it.
00:12:48.440And I think that the more we have those conversations, we can win them over.
00:12:51.120But also, too, you know, age has been, you know, kind of an interesting thing that's come up in this race.
00:12:57.100And I think that it's actually not the main issue here.
00:13:00.720I think that track record is, you know, I was knocking on doors and making phone calls for conservative candidates when I was 12 years old.
00:13:06.680I don't know what my opponents were doing at 12, but I imagine it's not that.
00:13:11.580So it's been something where I think a lot of, you know, people in the party, they say, you know, let's grow the party with young people.
00:13:17.060I think this is an opportunity to do just that.
00:14:15.600You know, just a few weeks ago, I know that you talked about this in Ohio.
00:14:19.840You have the governor there who vetoed a very common sense bill to me that would have protected, you know, women's sports and, you know, prevented, you know, you know, the transition of minors, which I think is pretty simple issue.
00:14:36.460But thankfully, you know, we have great conservatives in that, you know, that legislature there who can overturn that.
00:14:40.600But the same thing here is in Georgia.
00:14:42.140You know, we have lots of issues here.
00:14:43.360We need to rein in Fannie Willis, who is launching this, you know, politically motivated prosecution of President Trump and also, you know, conservative activists in this state.
00:14:51.960And also, too, not just that, but using taxpayer dollars to fund her little sneaky link.
00:15:00.960She's using taxpayer dollars to fund these exotic vacations with someone she appointed to prosecute the president.
00:15:07.900And honestly, I think it's wrong enough that she used all this money, you know, to fund her little illicit behavior.
00:15:14.060But to go on vacation in San Francisco, I just, you know, if you're going to do wrong, at least, you know, a visa, you know, Turks and Caicos are all options.
00:15:26.940But to go to San Francisco, I think that's just poor planning.
00:15:29.600And so it makes me question her judgment even more than I already do.
00:15:42.320And we need people who are going to fight to make that happen.
00:15:45.260But also, too, we need people who are going to keep the state the state that we grew up in, a state where traditional values are still the norm, where women are women.
00:15:53.440Biological men have no place in women's sports.
00:15:55.400But also, too, critical race theory, which teaches young black children that they will never achieve anything because of the color of their skin.
00:16:01.980And young white children, they're responsible for atrocities that they themselves were not allowed to commit, have no place in our schools.
00:16:08.340Taxpayer funded reverse racism has no place in our schools.
00:16:23.820I've really enjoyed following you these past few months, really probably past few years, seeing everything that you're doing, especially now that you're running.
00:16:35.020And I hope and I am almost certain that you will continue to have the opportunity to prove those things in the state of Georgia and, of course, on a national level.
00:16:45.720How can we, the general public, Georgians, of course, young people, how can we support you and follow you in what you're doing?
00:16:54.520Well, first and foremost, pray for me.
00:16:56.060I think this is going to be, you know, a race where prayers make all the difference.
00:17:00.380And it's definitely has been, you know, quite, you know, a journey even over the course of the past few weeks.
00:17:06.740But it's been one that's certainly worthwhile.
00:17:08.800But also, too, you know, if you're watching this, you can go visit PearsonForGeorgia.com.
00:17:13.200Learn more about the campaign that we're running.
00:17:15.280And you can chip in to help us get across the finish line.
00:17:17.940But also, too, if you know anyone in Georgia, if you know anyone in Columbia County, tell them to go vote.
00:17:23.920Every single vote in this election is going to matter.
00:17:26.940People aren't really thinking about voting the day before Valentine's Day, and probably for a good reason.
00:17:32.940And so if you can get them to the polls, it's going to make a world of a difference.
00:17:36.500We need to send the next generation of America First leadership to Atlanta.
00:17:40.420And I think we'll make that happen on February 13th.
00:17:43.220All the young listeners, regardless of where you are, register to vote.
00:17:48.000If you are in college, wherever you may be, register to vote.
00:17:52.920Your vote is needed now more than ever, whether that's a local level, a state level, a federal level.
00:17:58.540I really, truly believe we're at this precipice where it matters more than it ever has.
00:18:05.380So I could not agree with everything you're fighting for more, CJ.
00:18:09.720I think you, as you know, as anyone who listens to this knows, you are wise beyond your years, and you're a fighter, and that's what we need.