'Grifting opportunist' MAGA influencer registers as foreign agent

MAGA influencer CJ Pearson has reportedly registered as a foreign agent to assist the government in the Bahamas in strengthening its ties to the Trump administration.

Bloomberg Government first reported this week that Justice Department filings showed that Pearson registered as a lobbyist for the Bahamas ahead of the country's parliamentary elections next month.

The 23-year-old Georgia conservative who first went viral as a child scolding former President Barack Obama on YouTube has parlayed a decade of MAGA cheerleading into a full-blown influence operation — complete with a Hollywood talent agency deal, a Time 100 Creators nod, and a political influence firm called RightInfluence that he uses to, in his own words, "move culture, shift sentiment, and win online."

As co-chair of the Republican National Committee's Youth Advisory Council, Pearson has made himself the go-to conduit between the Trump White House and Gen Z, pitching himself as the man who made the GOP cool again — while critics note that marquee Black MAGA candidates he's championed, from Herschel Walker to Mark Robinson, crashed and burned spectacularly at the ballot box.

Pearson's latest move was met with skepticism online.

"CJ Pearson tried running for state house where I live," Georgia resident Frances Floresca Baldwin noted on X. "Yes, he went to school here, and he was in my circles in political media before I went to local news."

"Definitely great for bringing the young vote in, but he definitely is a grifting opportunist," she added.

Capitol Hunters, a group gathering information about the Jan. 6 riot, recalled that Pearson spent part of that day "standing on a government vehicle with his Stop the Steal crew cheering as the crowd rushed the Capitol doors."

"Gotta get in while the grifting is good," Thomas McGuinness joked.

"I'm sure he's working some grift with US Ambassador to the Bahamas Herschel Walker," another commenter speculated.