CPAC 2021 will have to go on without hip-hop artist Young Pharaoh, who was booted from speaking at the conference after the resurfacing of prior tweets about Jews and Judaism.
The tweets were dug up and gathered in a Media Matters report published Monday. One in particular stated in all caps that “there is no historical or scientific evidence proving the existence of Jews or Judaism… it’s all a complete lie.” Young Pharaoh adds that the best Jewish scholar out there could not disprove his hunch that “religion [is] completely made up for political gain.”
After learning that he’s now persona non grata, Young Pharaoh then tweeted—again in all caps—that he would give $50,000 to a rabbi who could “prove the validity of Judaism” in a debate with him.
Many media outlets are choosing to focus on the “anti-Semitic” nature of these and other tweets, but this ultimately misses the bigger picture. Why is CPAC so quick to ban conservatives with significantly less out-in-left-field views than Young Pharaoh? And why exactly did CPAC invite him in the first place?
It’s not just Jews and Judaism that Young Pharaoh has insulted. He’s also made disparaging remarks about Christians and Christianity. You know, the professed religion of a plurality, if not a majority, of conservatives.
In December 2020 Young Pharaoh tweeted: “#CHRISTIANITY IS BASED UPON PEDOPHILIA, AFRICAN VOODOO HAS BEEN INFILTRATED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WHOM ARE ALSO #WHITE PEDOPHILES. CAUCASIANS CONTINUOUSLY COLONIZE, ,RAPE, PERVERT, THEN FORGET WHEN ITS TIME TO DEAL WITH THEIR OWN CREATED EVILS & PROBLEMS. RELIGION IS GARBAGE.”
The guy is certifiably nuts. That much is clear. But how did he pass CPAC’s smell test while right-wing conservatives who aren’t nuts like Gavin McInnes, Michelle Malkin, Vincent James, et al have been banned from CPAC since at least last year?
The whole situation becomes even richer when you consider that the theme for this year’s conference is “America Uncanceled.” The jokes are writing themselves at this point.
Although it must be reiterated that CPAC should never have asked Young Pharaoh to speak in the first place, this situation shows that CPAC doesn’t actually oppose “cancel culture.” It perpetuates the all-too-familiar narrative that conservatives cower in the face of left-wing hit pieces and pull the plug on their targets because they want to appear “respectable” to a political class that hates them.
CPAC sure bungled this one no matter how you slice it.