Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg blasted his own party Friday night for alienating young men, arguing that Democrats are out of touch with this key demographic that helped power Donald Trump’s stunning 2024 victory.
“What I think happened last election is younger men — they would rather vote for somebody who they don’t completely agree with, they don’t feel judged by,” Hogg said on Real Time with Bill Maher. “Than somebody who they do agree with, that they feel like they have to walk on eggshells around constantly.”
Hogg, 25, a gun control activist and Parkland shooting survivor, said Democrats have grown “too elitist” and warned that the party’s judgmental tone is pushing away voters who should be natural allies. (RELATED: James Carville Tells David Hogg To His Face That Attempt to Take Down Fellow Dems ‘Jackassery of the Highest Level’)
“Young people should be able to focus on what young people should be focused on,” Hogg added, “which is how to get laid and how to go and have fun.”
Hogg’s comments come amid growing internal Democratic Party tensions. Young men aged 18 to 29 broke 56% to 42% for Trump in 2024, a dramatic shift from previous cycles. Women in the same age group preferred Kamala Harris by a 17-point margin, according to Tufts University data.
A Harvard Youth Poll showed President Joe Biden with an 8-point advantage over former President Donald Trump among all American voters under 30. But it found Democrats have lost significant ground with young men in the last five years. A noted rightward shift in political identity among Gen Z men appears to be materializing, according to other recent polls.
Hogg is under fire for using DNC contact lists to raise money for his outside political group, Leaders We Deserve, which plans to spend $20 million to challenge entrenched Democrats in safe blue districts, the New York Post reported, citing Federal Elections Commissions data.
Hogg has also questioned the party’s gender balance rules, saying he prefers to focus on competence. “I want to focus on whoever’s just best at the job,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hogg has found unlikely allies across the aisle. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler praised his push to unseat out-of-touch Democrats, saying, “Some of these people don’t know when it’s time to go.”
As Democrats regroup from their 2024 loss, Hogg is betting that shaking up the establishment — and acknowledging the basic motivations of young male voters — might be the wake-up call his party needs.
“We’re not a perfect party,” Donna Brazille said. “We’ve got a lot of shit within us and we have to clean up our own mess. But I’ll tell you one thing, if I had to come back on this Earth tomorrow, I would still be a Democrat because of our values. We fight like hell. Sometimes we never make love at night because we fight like hell.”
