David Hogg, the Parkland shooting survivor turned powerful activist who recently graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas, wants to join a 2020 presidential campaign and aspires to run for Congress when he is 25-years-old.
The 18-year-old was featured in a lengthy profile by New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer in which he spoke about his plans for the future as he narrows in on what the strategy will be to make his vision a reality.
Since the horrific, mass shooting that left 17 people dead in Parkland Florida, he and his fellow students like Emma González and Cameron Kasky have taken their national platform and developed it into a full fledged movement.
The young, eloquent students understand the importance staying on message. Their voices have called for stricter gun control policies and pushed back against the NRA and the politicians whose campaign coffers have been enriched by the powerful lobbying group.
Hogg says he will start college in the fall of 2019, in the meantime he will continue building on the movement he and his classmates started, which is now focusing on making sure the youth are registered to vote in time for the midterm elections.
The teen brings the same laser sharp focus on his message to what he sees as a road map for his next seven-years.
He says of the immediate future, he will keep fighting for change on a national level.
Hogg is also looking forward to meeting more activists as the year winds down.
Then, he expects to be enrolled in a college by fall of 2019.
Hogg’s mother, as part of his profile, told NY Mag that Harvard is on the table.
As they attended a gala at Fenway Park in Boston in the spring, she said that the Ivy’s professors were approaching them.
His mother, Rebecca Boldrick said an alumi told her ‘There is the potential that your son will be the leader of this country, and we want to make sure he goes to Harvard.’
Of course his mother swelled with pride, but still there are the finances to consider.
She added ‘we could never afford Harvard. Never. It wasn’t on our radar. I looked it up and saw how much it cost and said, ”There is no way.” With any luck at all, he can get into Harvard and they can help us financially.’
Hogg also says he wants to work on a presidential campaign for the 2020 elections, and once he finishes school, he wants to focus his attention on a Congressional run.
The teen, whose strong convictions and gut instinct to fight against anything he believes isn’t working for America, despite the seemingly set-in-stone norms, says he thinks the real issue with the Democratic party is there aren’t enough young people, and that old-timers simply aren’t relinquishing their seats.
‘The reason Republicans are successful right now is because they’re empowering young people,’ Hogg said, pointing out that Paul Ryan was 45 when he became Speaker of the House.
‘Older Democrats just won’t move the f*** off the plate and let us take control. Nancy Pelosi is old.’
He posted a vote to Twitter: ‘I had an interesting conversation today when the question of congressional age limits came up. Do you think there should be an age limit on congressmen, congresswomen, and congressthem?’ Of more than 33,000 votes, 59 per cent said yes.
He is eyeing a run for Congress by the time he is 25-years-old, which is the youngest you can hold a Congressional seat.
The teen, as his fellow classmates, persevered beyond the grief and the tragedy of the shooting, with Hogg even detailing the moments afterward, interviewing his classmates as they were huddled and hiding in a closet on February 14 – the day of the shooting.
Hogg delivered updates, even noting that the shooting suspect was potentially Nickolas Cruz, the 19-year-old gunman who killed his former classmates and faculty.
In the hours that followed, Hogg was on television driving home calls for greater gun control home- a call that started in the video just minutes after the massacre, where he prompts a fellow student, asking ‘What is your message?’
He was called a ‘crisis actor’ by conspiracy theorists, but never wavered from his or the March for Our Lives platform, made even more evident by his Twitter account, showing a focused drive towards making a legitimate change.
He’s already 25
Good one mary. 🙂
Hey, at least we’ll have many months of terrific jokes and belly laughs.
🙂
.
Why not
He’s already a laughing stock of the country
He will fit right in with the Clintons