David Hogg’s grift is a warning about all self-proclaimed ‘reformers’

Young Democratic “reformer” David Hogg turns out to have learned a thing or two from the establishment he damns.

The lefty activist has parlayed his presence at the grisly 2018 Parkland, Fla., high school mass shooting into prominence as a gun control activist, then a Harvard degree and finally a nice little niche for himself in the wild, wild world of Washington, DC.

He even briefly served on the Democratic National Committee (warning Dems to quit ragging on young men who just want to “get laid” and “have fun”).

Two years ago, he created the political action committee Leaders We Deserve, vowing it would identify and elect progressive “trailblazers” to “challenge the status quo.”

Hence his promise in April to spend $20 million to primary incumbent Democrats (a vow that got him ousted from the DNC).

Oops: So far, Leaders We Deserve has spent less on finding “leaders” and more on the promoting itself and enriching DC swamp creatures.

Campaign finance records show that the PAC spent only about $455,000 on candidates, and two of three got creamed.

The one success was Gotham’s own Zohran Mamdani, who pulled in about $300,000 of the PAC’s $455,000 in candidate spending, but raised millions elsewhere so didn’t really need Hogg’s help.

Meanwhile, Leaders We Deserve blew $2.5 million on consultants, $1.1 million on its own digital ads, $965,000 on donor lists and nearly $5,000 on a fitness class subscription.

Nothing says “challenging the status quo” like using donor money for Pilates.

Hogg is hardly the first to, well, live high on the hog by identifying a message that resonates widely and then raking in the cash.

Washington is a frothing ecosystem of influencers, lobbyists, consultants, politicians, organizers, etc., paying and billing each other in the name of greater causes.

Every generation brings forth new crusaders against this beast, only for many or most to go native.

It doesn’t mean reform isn’t badly needed (it is!), but rather that you need to follow the money — not the rhetoric.