David Hogg, 18, was the Daily Beast’s guest for the White House Correspondent’s Dinner in Washington D.C. on Saturday
Parkland survivor David Hogg made an appearance at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner on Saturday.
The 18-year-old gun control activist was a guest of liberal news site the Daily Beast and attended the event with fellow gun violence survivor Zion Kelly.
Kelly’s twin brother was shot dead last year by a robber who had tried assaulting Kelly just hours before near their Washington D.C. home.
Hogg has become one of the leading voices for gun control and a constant media presence since a shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida in February.
Personalities such as Democratic Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan and former Obama Ethics czar and CNN commentator Norm Eisen posed for pictures with the young activist.
‘We are counting on the next generation to lead us all—like David Hogg,’ Eisen wrote on Twitter.
Hogg has said he wants to be a journalist, and the Daily Beast’s editor in chief John Avlon said he was ‘delighted’ to have him as the publication’s guest at the event.
The gun control activist attended the event with fellow gun violence survivor Zion Kelly
Personalities such as Democratic Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan (right) and former Obama Ethics czar and CNN commentator Norm Eisen (left) posed for pictures with the young activist.
Earlier on Saturday he tweeted: ‘I don’t think I’ve had more of a productive day in my life.’
The teen said he was working with Kelly and got six congressmen to sign the NoNRAmoney pledge- a national campaign demanding that political candidates reject funding from the powerful gun lobby group.
Fellow Parkland survivor and activist Charlie Mirsky also attended the event.
The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was the second in a row without the president and was held at the Washington Hilton while Trump went to a campaign-style rally in Michigan.
Kelly’s twin brother was shot dead last year by a robber who had tried assaulting Kelly just hours before near their Washington D.C. home
Fellow Parkland survivor and activist Charlie Mirsky also attended the yearly event
Unlike last year’s event, some of the top current White House staff are in attendance this year, signalling a possible thaw in Trump’s often contentious relationship with the press. They included press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway.
Ex-White House staffers were also in abundance at the event, including former Trump advisor Omarosa Manigault-Newman, ousted Chief Economic Advisor Gary Cohn, ex-chief of staff Reince Priebus and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
The DC journalism elite was also out in force, of course, including CNN personalities Jake Tapper and Don Lemon.
Comedian Kathy Griffin, who created uproar last year by posing with a fake severed Trump head, also made an appearance on the red carpet.