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The teen survivor of the shooting in Parkland, Fla. does not accept an apology from the Fox News host who mocked his being rejected by his top college picks despite his high GPA.Â
Several of Fox News host Laura Ingraham's top advertisers have pulled out of her show after she tweeted that Parkland, Fla. school shooting survivor and anti-gun activist David Hogg, who carries a 4.2 GPA, failed to gain acceptance to some of his top college picks. The host of The Ingraham Angle apologized amid the flurry of advertisers fleeing her show but Hogg told CNN that he does not accept her apology and that "a bully is a bully."
Earlier this week, Ingraham, an NRA supporter, tweeted that 17-year-old Hogg, who survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people and injured more than a dozen more, "was rejected by four colleges to which he applied and whines about it."
Reaction to her tweet picking on the young survivor and activist was fast and furious and advertisers including Wayfair, Nestle, TripAdvisor, Hulu, Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Expedia and Johnson & Johnson became some of the first advertisers to pull out of her show, according to USA Today.
As her show began hemorrhaging advertisers, Ingraham tweeted an apology to Hogg.
\u201cAny student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA \u2014incl. @DavidHogg111. 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. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David...(1/2)\u201d— Laura Ingraham (@Laura Ingraham) 1522343174
But Hogg, appearing on CNN this weekend, said he won't accept her apology because he believes she only did it to save herself from losing more money.
"The apology ... was kind of expected, especially after so many of her advertisers dropped out," Hogg said. "I'm glad to see corporate America standing with me and the other students of Parkland and everybody else. Because when we work together we can accomplish anything."
Hogg added, "No matter who somebody is, no matter how big and powerful they may seem, a bully is a bully and it's important that you stand up to them."
And stand up to Ingraham is exactly what Hogg did. Following her tweet mocking him for being rejected by colleges to which he'd applied, Hogg encouraged his more than 700,000 twitter followers to appeal to advertisers to reconsider their association with her. Amid the fallout of her initial tweet, Ingraham took a short break from her show, which Fox News officials claim was pre-planned.
While Hogg said he didn't accept the apology she already gave, he ended with a caveat that he would forgive her if she and Fox News took responsibility for having further victimizing the Parkland survivors.
"I will only accept your 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."
