David Hogg is making it clear he’s not going anywhere — whether Democrats like it or not.

The 25-year-old gun control activist opted not to run again for his post at the Democratic National Committee after his decision to get involved in primaries sparked intense backlash. But Hogg has continued to be active on the political scene, meeting with New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and encouraging primary challenges for Democrats who support U.S. intervention in Iran.

While some Democrats have welcomed him back into the fold since his exit, other members of the party fear he could be a hindrance as they prepare for the midterms. Regardless of what his fellow party members think of him, though, Hogg has made it clear he’s here to stay.

“I'm not going away,” he told The Hill in his first interview since his announcement to forgo running for DNC vice chair.

“What people are trying to do is focus on talking about me a lot of the time, when really it's because they don't want to talk about the fact that we do have a real problem — a real problem with comfortability and competition,” he said, “and they don't want to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth, which is that we have to dramatically change as a party and what brought us here, is not what's going to get us out.”

Hogg has remained an outspoken member of the party more than a week since he decided not to run again for a DNC vice chair spot. On X, he has called out lawmakers as hypocrites for questioning paying for the price of universal health care or canceling student debt while not raising concerns over the price of another war.

He also said prior to the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend that any Democrat who supports war with the Islamic Republic needs to be primaried, adding that that his generation “grew up going through two multi trillion dollar wars we should have never been involved in.”

Ahead of the New York City mayoral Democratic primary on Tuesday, he appeared alongside Mamdani, with his group Leaders We Deserve endorsing the New York State assembly member. The New York Times

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