David Hogg, the 17-year-old who has become an important advocate for sensible gun reform since he survived the February 14th massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, has announced that he will be taking a “gap year” off after he graduates high school to work on the November midterm elections and help educate new voters, his mother Rebeca Boldrick told CNN.
Hogg intends to work to “get people to vote,” Boldrick explained.
Hogg had initially been rejected by several colleges, but has since been accepted to the University of California, Irvine. Even so, he plans to defer for one year.
His college admission woes were mocked by Fox News host Laura Ingraham, which led to a tweet war with Hogg, who said she was “cyberbullying” him and then called on his 700,000+ Twitter followers to demand that advertisers boycott her show. The boycott has proven successful, with 20 advertisers pulling their support from her program.
Ingraham apologized, but Hogg believed the apology an insincere attempt to win back her sponsors. Ingraham returns tonight after a weeklong “vacation,” which she claimed had already been planned.
On March 16, Hogg tweeted about his priorities:
Just got rejected from another college but that’s ok we’re already changing the world. Goodnight everyone
— David Hogg 🟧 (@davidhogg111) March 17, 2018
Now, even though he could be off to college, he is making good on his promise to help change the world.
He could have a big impact in particular on getting other young voters to turn out and finally enact change on gun control. In his March For Our Lives speech, Hogg said, “First-time voters show up 18 percent of the time for midterm elections… Not anymore!”
It’s likely that Hogg will be able to accomplish his goals, considering his quick rise to fame after he and his classmates refused to be silent in the wake of their tragedy. He has also weathered a myriad of false claims that he was a “crisis” actor, questions about whether he even attended the Parkland, Florida high school, Ingraham’s attack and more.
He is one of about 20 founding members of Never Again MSD (the initials of his school), and has helped organize Town Hall meetings about gun reforms with lawmakers all over the United States.
He has promised to help end the fear many Americans have of being the next victims of gun violence. He and his classmates have also received acclaim for using their “white privilege” to make this movement intersectional and address police brutality against people of color.
He has rallied support for common sense gun reform in Florida and helped inspire a candidate in Maine to run against a conservative who had attacked the teenager’s efforts.
Now he is ready to take on the National Rifle Association and the conservatives who have opposed and mocked him over a simple request – to protect the lives of Americans.
Based on what has happened so far, those who oppose him, mock him or attempt to discredit him may be in for a big surprise come November.
As Hogg said in the closing lines of his March for Our Lives speech, “We can and we will change the world.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwpTPkQVJao
