David Hogg Tells Laura Ingraham She “Needs to Stand Down”

David Hogg gave an interview on CNN Friday morning to discuss Fox News host Laura Ingraham and the advertiser boycott he has led against her show.  In it, he said that Ingraham “needs to stand down.”

Ingraham recently sent out a tweet that taunted him for his college application rejections. After she sent the tweet mocking Hogg, there was a huge social media backlash.  Then came the advertiser boycott which spread like wildfire over the internet. Her response was a lame apology sent in a second tweet, but Hogg was not favorably impressed.  Many of her sponsors have been refusing to pay any more money to support her show, knowing that the political winds and public opinion favor Hogg, the Parkland survivors, and gun control.

“I think it’s great that corporate America is standing with me and the rest of my friends,” Hogg said on CNN. “It is important that we stand together as corporate and civic America to take action against these people and show them they cannot push us around, especially when all we’re trying to do here is save lives.”

Hogg has become a vocal gun control activist, since the Florida shooting on Valentine’s Day that killed 17 people.  He is arguing that Ingraham and people like her are doing everything they can to distract from the gun control and gun violence issues.

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“It’s not only sad it’s just wrong. From a journalistic perspective, I would say that she needs to be more objective and needs to stand down. I’m not the issue here. The issue is gun violence in America. And she is trying to distract from that, and I hate it.”

Hogg was asked by CNN, “Do you accept her apology?”  And his response was a simple “No.” Then he added “She’s only apologizing after most of her advertisers pulled out.”

“I think it’s wrong. And I think if she really wants to do something she could cover inner-city violence and the real issues that we have in America,” he continued. “I know she is a talk show host, but as such she also has a responsibility to show both sides of the story.”

Hogg also responded to some of the conspiracy theories leveled against him and his fellow Parkland students. “It shows that what we’re doing is working. We have them scared, and it means we have to go even harder.”

He did emphasize that activists are not trying to take away guns. “We simply want gun legislation that allows law abiding citizens to own guns or prevents people with a history of mental illness or criminal background from owning a firearm. It’s as simple as that. We are for reasonable and sensible gun ownership,” he said.

Hogg added that he hoped Ingraham and other conservative talk show hosts would show some objectivity when covering the high school students who have suffered through a horrendous massacre of fellow students and teachers.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.