A top conservative influencer with more than a million followers on social media has a simple message for Republican politicians: Get on TikTok.
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“Young voters are there,” C.J. Pearson, head of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council, said in an interview for “The Sitdown With Alex Swoyer” podcast. “We can’t win where we don’t compete.”
Starting his online activism at age 8, Mr. Pearson has risen to the top of the MAGA online world, where the 23-year-old has hosted primetime Republican gatherings and met with President Trump multiple times.
He recalled becoming interested in politics at age 6 or 7 when his second-grade teacher had students participate in a mock vote during the 2008 election. He told his grandparents that he supported John McCain because of his military background, like his grandfather’s.
Since then, the Generation Z influencer journeyed from his home state of Georgia to the nation’s capital, where he aims to make a difference ahead of November’s midterm elections.
He is encouraging Republican candidates to try new media to reach younger voters — such as the video-sharing platform TikTok and the growing podcast scene.
But he says authenticity is where it matters, comparing former Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed podcast interviews to Mr. Trump’s successful appearances on Joe Rogan’s show.
“Authenticity is going to be the key,” Mr. Pearson said. “[Ms. Harris] flopped because it was manufactured. It was very rehearsed and it wasn’t authentic.”
“Young people are actually very much receptive to our ideas,” he added. “We just have to get in front of them, whether it is embracing new platforms like TikTok or integrating influencers into our communication strategy.”
Mr. Trump has credited TikTok with his ability to increase support from young voters in 2024. A Pew Research study found 63% of voters aged 18-29 are on TikTok. According to Reuters, Mr. Trump garnered 3 million followers on TikTok within 24 hours of joining the network.
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Republican lawmakers, such as Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, have recently used TikTok to speak to constituents.
“The more that we actually tell young people there is another option available that is driven by logic and truth — and not by emotion and half-truths — they are actually very eager to come to our side,” Mr. Pearson said, adding that most young women he talks to don’t think that biological men should participate in women’s sports or that children should undergo gender transition.
As for the midterms, he says domestic issues will be the key to winning younger voters. But he isn’t too concerned over the GOP’s chances of keeping control of the Senate, given that Maine Democratic nominee Graham Platner has sported a Nazi-related tattoo and Texas Democratic nominee James Talarico has said that God is nonbinary and that there are six genders.
“I actually feel really good, because you look at Graham Platner, who is running in Maine, who is trying to be this pseudo alpha male with a Nazi tattoo and all, who is trying to moderate his image to voters in Maine and I don’t think they are going to buy it,” Mr. Pearson said.
Mr. Platner has also faced accusations of infidelity and sexual harassment in his race to unseat GOP Sen. Susan Collins.
“Then you look at James ‘Talafreako’ [Talarico] over in Texas, who is a vegan running in Texas and a guy who seems to have rented a girlfriend for the purposes of his campaign. He is confused about a lot of things, and I think the people of Texas will see through that,” Mr. Pearson said.
Mr. Talarico had promoted a vegan campaign image but now says he eats meat after facing criticism from Republicans. He is looking to take Sen. John Cornyn’s Senate seat away from GOP control. Mr. Talarico is running against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Trump-picked candidate who bested Mr. Cornyn in the primary.
The main way to keep winning elections, according to Mr. Pearson, is to encourage states to redistrict and ensure race isn’t used to draw district lines that favor minorities following the Supreme Court ruling this year striking down part of the Voting Rights Act.
“We need to hold the feet to the fire of these state legislatures who have now been given a golden opportunity and undo these racist maps that have been drawn,” he said. “Do the right thing, redraw the maps.”
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