The 13-year-old social media star CJ Pearson, whose YouTube videos criticizing President Obama have gone viral, joined Cruz for President this month to help reach out to millennial voters through the campaign’s “youth operation” and talked about his new venture to Breitbart News.
Pearson told Breitbart News his job is “mobilizing young people across the nation in support of Senator Cruz.”
“We’re seeking to learn from the mistakes of Romney, learn from the mistakes of McCain and to seek to tap into a new generation of courageous conservatives… the millennial generation,” he explained to Breitbart News.
Pearson said Republicans have had a hard time connecting to young voters, so he wants to bring millennial voters into grassroots support for Ted Cruz and “have them making calls, door knocking, doing whatever it takes to get Cruz in the White House.”
“We’re the only campaign that’s kind of looking farther down the election,” he said of the Cruz campaign tapping into the younger generation voting block. “We’ve seen a generation that isn’t actively pursued by politicians.”
“We’re calling people up. We’re saying, ‘here’s what we stand for, here’s what we’re fighting for,’” Pearson explained.
Breitbart News asked CJ Pearson what the reaction is from young voters when they find out he is only 13-years-old.
“If I sound like I know what I’m talking about, we can have that conversation,” Pearson said, suggesting that his age isn’t an issue in recruiting voters 18 and older.
“My age is only a number. I think Madonna shows that quite well,” Pearson joked.
Pearson said the biggest concern he has heard from young voters so far is about student loans.
“The internet allows really anyone to have a voice and build a following, and C.J. is a great example,” Cruz campaign spokesman Rick Tyler said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “He can make a real difference. He’s kind of the model that we want others to follow.”
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