Creep of the Week: CPAC Axes Young Pharaoh, Masks Reasoning

Have you ever thought to yourself, "What could somebody do or say that would get them kicked off of the Conservative Political Action Conference's speaker roster?" and then found yourself thinking really hard about it, a retrospective of past speakers flipping through your mind like the world's ugliest View Master slide, yet found yourself unable to think of a single thing that would be a deal-breaker for them?
I definitely have, and that burins question was renewed by a cryptic Tweet sent by CPAC on Feb. 22 that read, "We have just learned that someone we invited to CPAC has expressed reprehensible views that have no home with our conference or our organization. The individual will not be participating at our conference."
Twitter responded immediately, with my favorite response from Charlotte Clymer (@cmclymer): "Sweetie, you're gonna have to be more specific. This describes all your attendees." And then, in case there was any confusion, she added, "Sorry, let me clarify this in case anyone mistakes it for an exaggerated effect intended for humor. I mean **ALL** the attendees in the most literal and sober sense."
My first thought was that someone at CPAC must have finally seen the Access Hollywood tape. But, no. Trump is still scheduled to speak at the Orlando, Florida, event — stay out of the area between Feb. 25-28 — because the Hyatt Regency Orlando is going to be a hotbed of super spreading: COVID-19, hatred and lies!.
It didn't take long to find out who CPAC had canceled from their America Uncanceled — and yes, it's really called America Uncanceled lineup — Young Pharaoh, who describes himself as a "Philosopher, Scholar, Musician, Fighter, and Father."
And it also didn't take long to see why CPAC was willing to cancel him: he's young and Black.
Oddly enough, anti-Semitism hasn't been a deal-breaker for other CPAC speakers in the past.
Sebastian Gorka, for example, spoke at the conference more than once and had reported ties to anti-Semitic groups.
Perhaps Young Pharaoh's biggest mistake is that in conservative circles, you're supposed to use a dog whistle, not a bull horn. Because his Tweets were blatant and ugly and left no room for plausible deniability.
Something Mr. Pharaoh seems particularly fixated on is debating Jewish scholars to "prove" that Jews and Judaism are both fake, claiming they were made up for "political gain." He also says that the Hebrew language is a "made up fantasy."
On Feb. 18 he tweeted, "Imagine being born a genius trying to guide and warn people your entire life but nobody ever listened. That's the reality of being me. 27 years trying to give a godly vision to visionless people."
So, he's very humble. But who among us hasn't said really stupid shit in our 20s?
Pharaoh traffics in all the major anti-Semitic tropes, a greatest hits album if you will. Make no mistake. He absolutely deserves to be canceled.
But so does the whole damn conference. It's a farce. A hate parade tailor-made for media attention.
Other crazy conspiracy theory shit that Young Pharaoh espouses is 100 percent CPAC bread and butter material: Pizzagate? Check. COVID vaccines change your DNA? Yup. Government machines controlling the weather? For sure. George Floyd protests being the product of the deep state? Public schools destroy young minds? The election was stolen from Trump? That there's a "lesbian agenda" that's being used to "reconfigure the energy of the people?" Check, check, check… wait, what?
I really hate it when I find out about lesbian agenda stuff secondhand. Like, did the Lesbian cabal lose my email address? Am I not a paid lifetime member? For the love of Ellen!
Young Pharaoh is very anti-gay. Go figure! In a YouTube video, he claims that he can prove that "it is not natural. That "you cannot be born homosexual" and that you can cure homosexuality. But don't worry! In the same video, he claims that he is not homophobic. But he also says, "Would I allow my children to be homosexual? HELL NO!" So, jury's out.
Look, there's nothing that Young Pharaoh has said or written that some other radicalized conservative with a spot at CPAC hasn't said or written. The bedrock of his beliefs are the same as CPAC's. He, unfortunately, not only said the quiet part out loud: he said it while Black. An unpardonable sin in the CPAC universe.
It takes a true lack of moral fiber and human decency to speak at CPAC and to buy a ticket to attend. It's a cesspool. I cringe in advance about the awful things that will be said there post 2020. Lord knows the last time Trump had a big audience fawning over him America almost died.
But when Young Pharaoh claims that the decision to cancel him was racist? It might be one of the only things he's not wrong about.