Former media darling David Hogg, who rose to prominence as a “survivor” of the 2018 Parkland high school shooting in Florida, may have outlived his usefulness to Democrats, as the Democratic National Convention has voided his election earlier this year as vice chair of the Democratic Party.
According to Fox News and other outlets, Hogg issued a statement acknowledging the vote.
“Today,” Hogg wrote, “the DNC took its first steps to remove me from my position as Vice Chair At-Large. While this vote was based on how the DNC conducted its officers’ elections, which I had nothing to do with, it is also impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party which loomed large over this vote.
“I ran to be DNC Vice Chair to help make the Democratic Party better, not to defend an indefensible status quo that has caused voters in almost every demographic group to move away from us,” he insisted.
But Hogg has reportedly raised millions of dollars in an effort to primary older Democrats as a way of attracting younger voters back to the party. It ignited a feud with veteran Democrat strategist James Carville, who called the move “jackassery of the highest level.”
As reported by the New York Times, “Mr. Hogg, 25, an outspoken survivor of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., has prompted a fierce backlash over his plans to spend up to $20 million through another organization he heads, Leaders We Deserve, on primary campaigns against incumbent Democrats.”
While the Fox report said the Carville and Hogg had “buried the hatchet,” some wonder whether Carville did what Democrats are famous for; he took the argument private and out of the public eye.
Politico is reporting the DNC’s move “was based on a procedural complaint unrelated to the broader controversy surrounding Hogg.” The report said the committee “is giving DNC members another option to squeeze the vice chair after he promised to spend $20 million in Democratic primaries against incumbent House members in safe blue districts.”
Politico reported Hogg and DNC Chairman Ken Martin “have been dueling over Hogg’s plans.” Historically, Democrats have almost always carried on their spats internally, out of the public eye. They try to appear unified to average voters, unlike Republicans, whose public spats have frequently played out in the media, to the party’s detriment.
Martin, according to Politico, called on Hogg to take a neutrality pledge or step down.
If the party ousts Hogg, it will appear to have been by his own making.
