The transformation of expelled Tennessee lawmaker Justin Pearson from his time at Bowdoin College to now has social media users calling the Democrat out as a complete "fraud."
Clips shared from a 2016 college campaign ad, when Pearson was running for president of the school's student government, show him calling for unity among his peers.
"I'm Justin J. Pearson, and I'm running for president of BSG," he says in the ad. "There are a few reasons why we're running this campaign this year. One has to do with representation … How can we represent all voices in a conversation?"
He continued, "I wanna bring together different voices — dissenting voices, voices that may be more liberal or more conservative — in order that we can reach a point of, sort of, the radical middle."
But it's not just the way he addressed political differences that shocked people—his look and mannerisms have completely changed as well, with some arguing he's "like the Hilaria Baldwin of Al Sharpton clones."
Justin Pearson was a normal, middle class clean cut black college student in 2016 when he ran for BSG president. He spoke about bringing together liberals and conservatives, to meet in the “radical middle” and waxed lyrical about the importance of “hearing every voice”. https://t.co/faED0Oi8WF pic.twitter.com/hfN6zaAmyA
— Aimee Terese (@aimeeterese) April 11, 2023
Amazing how Justin Pearson learned that crazy fake southern preacher accent just a few years after his Brooks Brothers prep school days at Bowdoin: he's like the Hilaria Baldwin of Al Sharpton clones:https://t.co/1Gy4EFDQNs https://t.co/v3lsuiBgTP
— Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) April 11, 2023
Tennessee Representative Justin J. Pearson is a total fraud
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 11, 2023
Pearson in 2016 vs 2023: pic.twitter.com/iPLXFFJ6r2
*If SNL were actually funny and made fun of left wingers.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 11, 2023
Here is fraud Tennessee Representative Justin J. Pearson just two years ago.
— Gain of Fauci (@DschlopesIsBack) April 11, 2023
Apparently if you grow your hair out into an afro it immediately makes your voice and entire personality change as well... pic.twitter.com/ng5WRR6HEg
Pearson and two other Democratic state representatives led hundreds of protesters onto the House floor last month following the mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, calling for stricter gun control laws. The House voted to remove him along with one other Democrat, Justin Jones, though Jones has been reinstated on an interim basis. The Shelby County Commission will vote Wednesday to determine whether Pearson will be appointed to fill his seat. A special election will be held in both cases in the coming months.