Gun control activist David Hogg has deleted a viral tweet and apologized after a staffer for Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) accused him of lying about the senator for “self-promotion.”
“Rubio staff said I can’t meet with him or his staff because I ‘trigger’ him,” claimed Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. “I just wanna have a conversation. Please meet with me @marcorubio I just want to figure out how we can stop these things from happening. We have to end the continuous debate and find what we can agree on.”
A spokesman for Rubio told The Daily Wire on Thursday that this claim was false: Rubio’s office had a meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday with both Hogg and the March for Our Lives team, but they canceled after they saw his fabricated tweet.
“No one said such a thing,” Rubio’s Chief of Staff Michael Needham responded to Hogg. “As for the meeting, you must be confused as we had a 2p meeting scheduled with you. However, since you are lying and clearly using this all for self-promotion, that meeting is now cancelled [sic].”
Photo: Screenshot/Twitter
“Also,” Needham added, “the reporter doing a profile of you knows the meeting is real since she was emailing yesterday with our comms team about it. Don’t lie again — we have receipts.”
Also, the reporter doing a profile of you knows the meeting is real since she was emailing yesterday with our comms team about it. Don’t lie again — we have receipts.
— Michael Needham (@MikeNeedham) June 9, 2022
Hogg deleted the tweet Thursday afternoon, claiming in a new tweet that it was an “honest mistake,” and attaching a screenshot showing that his original tweet had garnered over 24,000 likes.
“Got our meetings confused in the flurry and my staff misinformed me,” he said. “I apologize. We’d still love to meet with you and have an honest, respectful discussion. Deleted the tweet [because] it wasn’t true but attaching here for transparency.”
.@marcorubio an honest mistake, got our meetings confused in the flurry and my staff misinformed me. I apologize. We’d still love to meet with you and have an honest, respectful discussion. Deleted the tweet bc it wasn’t true but attaching here for transparency. pic.twitter.com/icmaLoSA0C
— David Hogg ☮️ (@davidhogg111) June 9, 2022
Hogg is in Washington, D.C., calling for gun control following the deadly mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 children and two adults.
“PARENTS WAKE UP this could have been your kid and it still could be,” Hogg tweeted earlier this week. “We never thought it could happen in Parkland either. Act on this before you become part of the club that nobody wants to be part of.”
PARENTS WAKE UP this could have been your kid and it still could be. We never thought it could happen in Parkland either. Act on this before you become part of the club that nobody wants to be part of. https://t.co/odYs3nfeM3
— David Hogg ☮️ (@davidhogg111) June 9, 2022