Conservative influencer C.J. Pearson raised about $170,000 for Black-owned businesses in 2020. He never really doled it out. And now he’s running for office.
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/Wikimedia CommonsAt just 21 years old, C.J. Pearson boasts a lengthy record in the public arena. After going viral as a preteen for his self-taped takedown of Barack Obama, he has climbed the ranks of the right wing’s activist-pundit class, amassing hundreds of thousands of fans and a prominent perch at the conservative content platform PragerU.Now, Pearson is hoping to add another line to his resume: Georgia state lawmaker.The Augusta n