How Did David Hogg Turn the Tables on President Trump to Advocate Gun Control?

In the wake of the shooting at a Parkland, Florida High School, students have been speaking out to advocate gun control and better school security. School shooting after school shooting, people complain about the problem but gun control remains the third rail of American politics. Congress quickly kills even the most modest gun control legislation. Parkland survivor David Hogg, seventeen years old, has become one of the most prominent advocates of gun control.

Hogg made one of his most dramatic statements on Meet the Press. In one of his infamous tweets, President Donald Trump had complained that Democrats had been unable to pass gun control when they controlled the House, Senate, and White House. Mr. Trump's implication was that the Democrats didn't want to pass gun control legislation. This further implied that the failure of gun control was the Democrats' fault, not his. Nothing new there; politicians rarely take responsibility for anything.  But Hogg turned the tables on him.

Hogg's direct response, which occupied less than a minute, said:

"How dare you? You are in that exact position right now and you want to look back on our history and blame the Democrats? That's disgusting. You're the president. You're supposed to bring this nation together not divide it. How dare you. Children are dying and their blood is on your hands because of that. Please, take action. Stop going on vacation at Mar-a-Lago. Take action, work with Congress; your party controls both the House and Senate. Take some action, get some bills passed..."

In the debate tactic of turning the tables, a speaker turns the opponent's argument to support the opposite point. Mr. Trump's position was that gun control failure was the Democrats' fault. Hogg pointed out, quite sharply, that the President's party now controlls the government and should be able to pass whatever legislation they want. Responsibility shifts back to the accuser. This argument gains power because it uses the accuser's own reasoning and evidence. Mr. Trump cannot reasonably complain that Hogg's point is invalid, as it was the same as his own point.

Conservatives' response to Hogg's advocacy has not been at all rational; instead, he has been widely accused of being a crisis actor while various other absurd and revolting conspiracy theories have been raised against him.

Was Hogg's forceful language a bit heated? Well, yes, but give him a break! His school was shot up and his classmates were murdered. He has far more cause to be emotional than any of the politicians or media pundits who complain about him. Maybe only forceful talk can lift the gun control debate out of its current morass of conspiracy theories and fake Founding Fathers quotes and back to solid ground.

P.S.: Sometimes very short speeches are the best. Make your point and stop. 

P.P.S.: An earlier post noted a student who was disgruntled because TV wouldn't give him time for a long speech. Hogg didn't need much time. He made his point and, bam! he was done. 

Also, for more thoughts about conspiracy theories, see this post.