Democratic National Committee Vice Chairman David Hogg pushed back on perceptions that his campaign to oust longtime Democratic incumbent lawmakers is fueled by age-related concerns.
In April, Hogg unveiled a $20 million initiative targeted at wresting Democratic incumbents from positions of power and replacing them with new candidates. Hogg said at the time he was focused on squelching a “culture of seniority politics” aimed at ousting politicians too content with “the status quo,” or “our current set of leaders, too many of which are asleep at the wheel, out-of-touch, and ineffective.”
While his move was viewed as replacing elderly incumbents with younger, more dynamic members, and portrayed as a growing generational divide within the Democratic Party, Hogg said Sunday that his focus was never specifically on age.
“There’s a lot of people out there who want to make this all about age and say that we’re just targeting people because they’re above a certain age or something like that. That could not be further from the truth,” Hogg, 25, said during an interview on MSNBC’s The Weekend Primetime on Sunday. “There are older people who are great; there are young people who suck.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not like you just get above a certain age and you start being terrible. It’s a lot more nuanced than that,” he added. “The people that we are challenging, it’s not like it’s just because they’re above a certain age that we’re going to be challenging them … It’s about effectiveness and being able to meet this moment.”
Hogg made history in February when he became the youngest person to win the Democratic National Committee’s election, which picked the DNC’s three vice chairs. He won the race at the age of just 24 after running on a campaign citing the DNC’s need for generational change.
“I’m one of the youngest people ever to run for this role,” Hogg said at the time. “I am the only person in this race that is under the age of 30 from any of the positions that are out there. We need to make sure that we’re supporting our young people. That’s just what I’ve done.”
He has since attempted to clarify that the campaign was not about age, but policy and direction.
“There are young people who suck. There are old people who suck,” Hogg told the Guardian last week. “Nobody’s entitled to their position of power. We live in a democracy, at least for now.”
Still, youth does factor into the equation in Hogg’s push for “fresh faces” in power.
“We’re not looking to challenge people that, you know, have incredible legacies, like [Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC)], for example,” he said during the MSNBC interview Sunday. “What we’re looking to do here is make sure that we’re bringing in a generation of young people that is truly representative of our generation.”
Three months after he won the election, the DNC announced it needed to challenge the results of Hogg’s win and that of another vice chairman, Malcolm Kenyatta, due to concerns that the election had failed to follow “parliamentary procedures.”
Hogg argued the move came due to the DNC leadership’s public disdain for his work to primary Democratic incumbents. The young vice chair has faced condemnation from party leaders, including DNC Chairman Ken Martin, over disagreements about Democratic strategy.
“No DNC officer should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election, whether on behalf of an incumbent or a challenger,” Martin said last month. “Voters should decide who our primary nominees are, not DNC leadership. Our role is to serve as stewards of a fair, open, and trusted process, not to tilt the scales.”
Martin has since rebutted accusations that challenging the results of Hogg’s win stemmed in any way from political animus, saying he has no plans to force the vice chairman out of office.
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Hoggs believes otherwise.
“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,” he said. “The DNC has pledged to remove me, and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort.”