It’s that time of year again. High school seniors all across the country are anxiously awaiting their college acceptance letters. Parkland Fla., shooting survivor and gun-control activist David Hogg is no different. Except for the fact that most high school seniors don’t receive snide, cutting remarks on Twitter from adults in regards to their rejections.
Hogg did an interview with TMZ on Tuesday and mentioned he had received a few rejection letters from California universities, including UCLA. Somehow, a 17-year-old talking about something as totally normal as getting acceptance and rejection letters from colleges was enough to spark derision from many conservatives who have unrelated beef with the teen activist. Radio host and Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham was among the most notable of these.
Ingraham tweeted an article from a right-wing news site about David’s college prospects. She made light of his rejections and disparaged his GPA and chances with UCLA, also adding that he “whined about it.”
David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 28, 2018
According to TMZ, David has already been accepted into a number of universities. He also has a GPA of 4.2 and a SAT score of 1270. (So, like, maybe not even a decent way to dunk on a kid if you’re gonna try it, Laura.)
Ingraham’s tweet garnered immediate backlash across Twitter. Some find her words to be especially awful because she’s a parent and she is picking on a student who survived a school shooting.
Laura, you’re a parent. This is pretty deplorable. https://t.co/nLXrgmZhm0
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) March 28, 2018
Are you really picking on a teenager who just watched his classmates die in pools of their own blood less than two months ago?
— Brooke Binkowski (@brooklynmarie) March 28, 2018
David was among those who replied to her repugnant tweet, asking her who her biggest sponsors were. He didn’t seem to need a reply, because he compiled a list of her 12 biggest supporters in less than an hour.
Soooo @IngrahamAngle what are your biggest advertisers … Asking for a friend. #BoycottIngramAdverts
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 29, 2018
Pick a number 1-12 contact the company next to that #
Top Laura Ingraham Advertisers
1. @sleepnumber
2. @ATT
3. Nutrish
4. @Allstate & @esurance
5. @Bayer
6. @RocketMortgage Mortgage
7. @LibertyMutual
8. @Arbys
9. @TripAdvisor
10. @Nestle
11. @hulu
12. @Wayfair— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 29, 2018
Civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom said in a tweet that Ingraham’s words on Twitter may be a sign that David has “really gotten under Fox News’ skin.”
Later on Thursday, Ingraham tweeted an apology: “On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland.” She then claimed that she had previously been one of the earliest shows to give Hogg a platform: “For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David immediately after that horrific shooting and even noted how ‘poised’ he was given the tragedy. As always he’s welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion.”
Hogg replied that he would “only accept [Ingraham’s] apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight,” he tweeted. “It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children.”