White House: Kid Who Says Obama Blocked Him on Twitter Is Probably Lying

By Erin Gloria Ryan  |  September 24, 2015 | 2:10pm
Politics

A 13-year-old black conservative activist caused a ripple of finger wags yesterday when he claimed that President Obama had blocked him on Twitter. The White House says that nobody has ever been blocked from President Obama’s official Twitter account. Somebody’s lying!

CJ Pearson, according to conservative-leaning blog The Daily Caller, had been using his Twitter presence to promote his own viral Obama critiques and to angle for a one-on-one interview with the President. Yesterday, he posted the above Tweet, and the usual suspects pounced. Obama Bad, read the headlines. Yes, yes, the readers of the headlines mumbled as they nodded to themselves, this confirms my deeply-clung-to belief that he is Bad.

But assistant White House Press Secretary Frank Benanti disputed the story. Without using CJ Pearson’s name or even linking to a story about the boy (ice cold!), he Tweeted in no uncertain terms that the President doesn’t and has never blocked anybody.

Pearson responded by insisting that he indeed was blocked by the President and it is they who are the liars, comparing their denial of the block to Obama’s now-infamous “if you like your health care plan, you can keep it” (Pearson slightly misquoted the President in his Tweet.)

Either a 13-year-old boy who depends on publicity lied to get publicity or the President spends hours every day combing through his @ replies on Twitter, blocking sassy children but leaving in place all of the “fuck me daddy”s and “go bak to Kanya!”s.

Let me put on my thinking cap and get back to you about what sounds more feasible.

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