Latest news with #KalynFree
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
David Hogg, Victim of Wokeness
David Hogg is a 25-year-old political activist and, for now, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. A survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Hogg first drew national attention for speaking out vigorously in favor of gun control. He has since become an all-purpose progressive campaigner. He is controversial, even among Democratic circles, because he has clashed with the party's establishment. He previously pledged to spend $20 million to primary members of his own party, though he insisted that he would only target Democrats who reside in safe districts. His thinking is that elected Democrats are too old and that the current iteration of the party fails to appeal to younger voters, particularly young males. Hogg is definitely onto something there: Donald Trump made huge inroads with Gen Z voters, in part because Democratic messaging to young men failed to resonate with them. Hogg made a version of this argument on Bill Maher's show last weekend, and the comedian was impressed enough to give Hogg a standing ovation and shake his hand. Hogg also won over centrist Democratic strategist James Carville, who had previously called him a "twerp." But Hogg has not won over everybody. On the contrary, the DNC is trying to oust him as vice chair. And the reason for that is, frankly, hilarious. Kalyn Free, a 61-year-old woman with Native American ancestry and a rival candidate, filed a complaint that Hogg's election as vice chair had violated certain DNC bylaws designed to promote gender-based equity. Essentially, she argued that the process was unfair because it was not sufficiently rigged in favor of her as a woman. For now, the DNC is buying it and has taken steps to void Hogg's election. The party may schedule a redo, which would require Hogg to rerun for the vice chair position. What's funny about all this is that it illustrates the DNC's precise problem with appealing to young male voters. Essentially, the DNC is clinging to its principles of identity politics, affirmative action, and gender-based preferencing—concepts that are toxic to most voters, including many Democratic voters—to undo the election of a younger, more rebellious political actor in favor of an older woman. I don't know whether Hogg's ideas for winning elections are better than Kalyn Free's. But I suspect that constantly overlooking and overriding younger Democrats will continue to hurt the party's appeal. Moreover, voiding the election of a young, male Democrat for an explicitly identity-based reason does not exactly suggest that the party is trying hard to shed its image as an enforcer of culturally woke orthodoxy. The DNC can't complain that voters, particularly Gen Z males, are skeptical that Democrats have their best interests in mind and actually value them as potential sources of support. Unless they make a much more strident effort to distance themselves from extremely unpopular—indeed, cringe—progressive norms like pronoun policing, identity politics, land acknowledgements, and all the rest of the woke milieu, the Dems might as well be the Ruthkanda Forever Party. I am again joined by Amber Duke to discuss Jake Tapper's book on Joe Biden, President Donald Trump's price fixing scheme, the brawl at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, and more! It's finally time for me to read something other than Agatha Christie: I settled on The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. I think I'm about halfway through, and it hasn't quite hooked me yet—but perhaps that's just because I miss Hercule Poirot so much. The post David Hogg, Victim of Wokeness appeared first on
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Parkland survivor David Hogg to be ousted from DNC following investigation into his election
A Democratic National Committee panel has found that gun control activist David Hogg and a colleague were not properly elected to be among its five vice chairs earlier this year, paving the way for their removal. Hogg, 25, rose to national prominence after surviving the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018, and co-founding March for Our Lives. Donald Trump and the Democratic Party's failure to earn the trust of the electorate. Hogg made waves last month by announcing that his new organization, Leaders We Deserve, co-founded with Kevin Lata – the former campaign manager of Florida Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost, the first Gen-Z member of Congress – intends to support primary challengers to 'out-of-touch, ineffective' House Democrats occupying safe congressional seats that, it believes, have not done enough to oppose the Trump administration. In what has already been interpreted as an attack on that strategy, the DNC's Credentials Committee on Monday upheld a complaint brought by Oklahoma activist Kalyn Free, who lost out on one of the vice chair positions in February 1's elections and subsequently accused the DNC of breaking its own rules on gender diversity, potentially invalidating the elections of Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta. A full DNC vote will now be held on the committee's findings, which could mean new elections being staged, with the same five candidates, including Hogg and Kenyatta, on the ballot once again. '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,' Hogg responded in a statement. '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. 'The DNC has pledged to remove me, and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort.' Kenyatta also reacted strongly, calling it 'a slap in the face' and complaining that he had 'worked [his] a** off to get this role and have done the job every day since I've held it.' He also rejected media framing of the ruling as an internal effort to oust Hogg, saying the story was not only about his colleague, 'even though he clearly wants it to be.' For his part, DNC Chairman Ken Martin said: 'I am disappointed to learn that before I became chair, there was a procedural error in the February vice chair elections. 'The Credentials Committee has issued their recommendation, and I trust that the DNC members will carefully review the committee's resolution and resolve this matter fairly. 'I thank all of our officers for their service, including Vice Chairs Kenyatta and Hogg, and look forward to continuing to work with them in their officer posts as this matter is resolved.' Before Monday's ruling, Martin had posted on X: 'I am more committed than ever to introduce the slate of structural reforms that enshrine these values into the official rules of the Democratic Party. These reforms will require all party officers – including myself – to remain neutral in primaries. 'They will ensure no party official can abuse their position to tilt the outcome of an election. Whether you're a challenger or an incumbent, 18 or 80, the rules must apply equally. 'Do I have opinions? Of course. But when you lead the institution tasked with calling the balls and strikes, you don't get to also swing the bat.' His thread could likewise be construed as a rebuke of Hogg, whose plans to put the heat under Democrats he considers complacent have ruffled the feathers of party elders, most notably Bill Clinton's former strategist James Carville, who labelled him 'a contemptible little twerp' in a NewsNation interview before changing his tune.
CBS News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
DNC panel pushes to scrap David Hogg's vice chair election
Could David Hogg's position as a vice chair of the DNC be in jeopardy? A Democratic National Committee panel on Monday recommended redoing David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta's elections to party vice-chair, as Hogg faces a separate intraparty battle over his push to primary some Democratic politicians. The DNC's credentials committee passed a resolution determining that Kenyatta and Hogg's election in February was incomplete due to violations of the party's charter, and the party should hold two new votes with only candidates who previously ran participating. The resolution will now be presented to the entire DNC. Monday's resolution came in response to a challenge brought by Kalyn Free, a Native American committeeperson from Oklahoma who lost to Hogg — a 25-year-old Parkland school shooting survivor best known for his gun control advocacy — in one of the vice chair races. Free alleges that during February's election, the DNC improperly combined two questions and tallied votes together. In doing so, Free argues, the DNC used procedures that gave male candidates an advantage over female candidates, violating the party's charter. During a more than two-hour meeting, committee members debated whether the election violated party rules. Representatives for Hogg and Kenyatta, a Pennsylvania state lawmaker, argued it's up to the DNC chair to interpret whether voting procedures are consistent with the rules. Kenyatta's representatives also argued holding a re-vote under new rules could "disenfranchise" party members who voted in February. Before the vote, committee members rejected a resolution by Christine Pelosi, daughter of House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, to uphold Hogg and Kenyatta's elections. DNC Chair Ken Martin, who was elected earlier this year, said in a statement he is "disappointed to learn that before I became Chair, there was a procedural error in the February Vice Chair Elections." He said he expects DNC members to "resolve this matter fairly." David Hogg ignites DNC controversy While Free's challenge is not related to the controversy surrounding Hogg, it still brought back to the fore Hogg's turbulent tenure as one of the party's top leaders — including an effort by Martin to require party officers like Hogg to remain neutral in primaries. In reaction to Monday's vote, Hogg argued it's "impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party which loomed large over this vote." "The DNC has pledged to remove me," wrote Hogg. "This vote has provided an avenue to fast track that effort." Hogg has faced pushback over his efforts to mount primary challenges against Democrats he views as "asleep at the wheel" in the fight against President Trump. He says his group, known as Leaders We Deserve, plans to spend $20 million on the effort. The gambit has drawn controversy from Democratic heavyweights who argue the party should remain neutral in primary elections and leaders should not focus their efforts on ousting elected members. Matt Bennett, a Bill Clinton campaign aide who now works for the centrist group Third Way, called it "insane behavior from a DNC official." Martin has argued neutrality is necessary because it avoids the perception that "party insiders could quietly influence outcomes." "Do I have opinions? Of course. But when you lead the institution tasked with calling the balls and strikes, you don't get to also swing the bat," Martin posted on X over the weekend. Hogg has defended the Leaders We Deserve initiative, telling CBS News' Major Garrett last month "we have to show our base right now that we are doing everything we can to fight back against Donald Trump, and that includes holding ourselves accountable."
New York Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
D.N.C. Takes Step to Void Election of Hogg and Kenyatta as Vice Chairs
The credentials committee of the Democratic National Committee voted on Monday to void the results of the internal party vote that made David Hogg a party vice chair, ruling that the election had not followed proper parliamentary procedures. The decision — which came after roughly three hours of internal debate and one tie vote — will put the issue before the full body of the Democratic National Committee. It must decide whether to force Mr. Hogg and a second vice chair, Malcolm Kenyatta, to run again in another election later this year. 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. Ken Martin, the party chairman, has said it is inappropriate for Mr. Hogg to meddle in primaries while serving as a party official, and has recommended changing the party's bylaws to force him to sign a neutrality pledge. The ruling by the credentials committee on Monday was not technically related to Mr. Hogg's decision to engage in primaries. Instead, it was the result of a complaint from one of the losing candidates in that vice chair race, Kalyn Free. Ms. Free said the party had wrongly combined two separate questions into a single vote, putting at a disadvantage the female candidates because of the party's gender-parity rules. Mr. Hogg did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Mr. Martin said, 'I am disappointed to learn that before I became chair, there was a procedural error in the February vice chair elections. The credentials committee has issued their recommendation, and I trust that the D.N.C. members will carefully review the committee's resolution and resolve this matter fairly.' Mr. Hogg's decision to engage in primaries was not the subject of the discussion on Monday, which turned on arcane parliamentary procedures and the decision of party officials to combine votes for the last two vice chair slots into a single vote. Mr. Hogg and Mr. Kenyatta were both elected at the same time. Mr. Kenyatta, 34, is a state lawmaker in Pennsylvania, and their elections as vice chairs had injected two younger voices into the party's leadership. 'This is about fairness and making sure that three women and the voting members of the D.N.C. are not disenfranchised,' Ms. Free said in a statement before the meeting, during which she had enlisted a parliamentary expert to plead her case. The credentials committee had appeared torn on what to do. An initial resolution to dismiss the complaint by Christine Pelosi, the daughter of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, resulted in a tie vote. A second resolution calling for a new election with the same candidates who participated in February was eventually approved.
