A 13-year old YouTuber who went viral due to his conservative videos criticizing President Obama is now admitting that his conscience is making him leave the Republican party.
When the president invited Ahmed Mohamed to visit the White House after he was detained for bringing a homemade clock to school, CJ Pearson posted a video asking, “When cops are gunned down, you don’t invite them to the White House. You never did. But when a Muslim kid builds a clock, come on by. What is this world you’re living in?”
However, now the former chairman of the Teens for Ted Cruz youth group is having a serious change of heart about his political allegiances. Friday, Pearson told CNN that he could no longer be a “champion of a party that turned a blind eye to racial discrimination.”
“I don’t want to be the conservative wonder kid that people follow because I make them feel good,” he explained. “I want to be followed because I’m the voice of a generation that doesn’t have a voice at the table.”
The turning point came for him came after video was released of Laquan McDonald being shot to death by police. “My views on the issues aren’t going to be dictated by one political platform or another,” Pearson clarifies. “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America.”
Pearson’s YouTube channel is viewed by more than 5 million and he has more than 100,000 Facebook followers.
article by Blue Telusma via thegrio.com
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A GOP staffer will resign after launching a verbal assault on Malia and Sasha Obama in the wake of their appearance at the president’s annual turkey pardoning ceremony last week at the White House.
Elizabeth Lauten, who served as a communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), criticized the two girls in a Facebook rant which eventually went viral. “Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised, public events,” wrote Lauten.
She also said that the Obama daughters, who largely stay out of the limelight, should show “a little class.”
Many have argued Malia and Sasha were behaving like typical teenagers at the event. They appeared unamused by their father’s corny jokes and at one point Malia declined to pet the Thanksgiving turkey by simply saying, “Nah.”
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Lauten has since apologized for her post, admitting, “When I first posted on Facebook I reacted to an article and I quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager.” Lauten’s name became a trending topic amid the controversy, with over 22,000 mentions in 24 hours. She had previously been responsible for a gaffe this summer when she accidentally tweeted about “shagging” on Fincher’s official Twitter account. Now, her resignation is “in the works.”
article by Adam Howard; read more at msnbc.com