David Hogg: “The Grift that Keeps on Grifting”

Opinion

At this point, anybody who reads NRA-ILA’s Grassroots Alerts even sporadically is well aware of the shameless, anti-gun self-promoter David Hogg.

He has parlayed his radical activism into what some might think was being gifted entrance into Harvard, a major position with the Democratic National Committee (DNC)—a position he was quickly forced to surrender—and a well-paid gig running a PAC; a PAC whose effectiveness has been questioned by fellow Democrats.

All this has led to at least one “high-ranking Democrat outside of the DNC” alleging that Hogg’s political activism may be little more than a grift. Hence the title of this latest missive on David.

Hogg and his PAC have been criticized on a number of fronts. When he ascended to his position with the DNC, one of his first acts was to use that organization’s resources to raise money for his PAC (a PAC from which he draws his salary).

This was likely one of the reasons he is no longer with the DNC.

Then he boldly proclaimed his PAC would raise $20 million to promote candidates he supports in primaries, even if that meant going against Democrats that are currently in office.

While DNC officials had reportedly signed a “neutrality policy” earlier this year that seemed designed to protect Democrat incumbents, Hogg was apparently the only one to not sign.

Another probable reason he is no longer with the DNC.

While Hogg’s actions that seemed in conflict with the DNC are a bit of a black eye, the effectiveness of his PAC has also come into question.  It has lost a couple races—and by wide margins—in which it weighed in this year, and it can be argued the one primary “success”—radical anti-gun socialist (communist?) Zohran Mamdani—was going to happen with or without his PAC.

Then there’s the goal of Hogg’s PAC raising $20 million. Two months after announcing the goal, the PAC had $1.5 million in its coffers.  Since its inception in 2023, it has raised a total of $15.3 million. Questions about the amount of money raised by the PAC when compared to actual donations to candidates led New York state Sen. James Skoufis (D) to remark, “At this rate, he would only have to raise a little over $3 billion in order to get his promised $20 million to primary candidates. THIS should be the story, folks.”

Some analysis of the spending by the PAC has led to questions about Hogg’s status as a “reformer.”  While he has railed against the Democrat status quo and regularly claims he wants to oust older incumbents in favor of younger candidates, even other Democrats imply his PAC operates similarly to other PACs.

In other words, there’s really not much “reform” going on.

Like many other PACs, Hogg’s has spent millions on consultants, digital ads, and donor lists, not to mention $5,000 on a fitness class subscription. And as an apparent effort to make nice with his former colleagues at the DNC, his PAC appears to have donated $100,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

That donation seems a bit odd, as the money could very well be used to counter expenditures made in races where the two PACs are in conflict.  Then again, that might just be par for the course when it comes to the D.C. swamp, where Hogg seems to have settled in quite comfortably.

About NRA-ILA:

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org

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