David Clarke attacked a survivor of the Parkland, FL, school shooting for speaking out about gun violence, saying “my dad would have backhanded me” for “popping off” against an authority figure like President Donald Trump. Clarke is scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which has claimed it finds attacks on Parkland students “indefensible.”

Clarke is the former sheriff of Milwaukee County who is now a right-wing pundit and spokesperson for the pro-Donald Trump super PAC America First Action. He is a frequent speaker at the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual meeting and is regularly featured and promoted by the NRA's media operations. He has a history of toxic rhetoric about people ranging from former President Barack Obama to artist Beyoncé.

Since the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, student survivors have been speaking out against gun violence, calling for new gun laws, and organizing rallies. Right-wing media personalities, however, have been mocking and attacking the students and engaging in conspiracy theories about their efforts.

Clarke smeared the students’ efforts during a February 19 appearance on Compass Media Networks’ The Joe Pags Show, stating that his dad would have “backhanded” him for similar remarks about the president and claiming that the left is using the students as pawns.

Host Joe Pagliarulo began the segment by attacking Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior Emma Gonzalez, who he said “is a far-lefty propagandist -- well I don’t know that she’s a propagandist. She’s just 17 years old [editor's note: Gonzalez is 18]. Maybe her parents are, maybe the community is. But her attacks are on the president, they’re on the NRA.”

Later in the segment, after criticizing school districts for supposedly having “no will” to “protect these kids,” Clarke returned to the topic of students speaking out, though he appears to have misheard Pagliarulo as he referred to an unnamed male instead of female.

“Then, of course, the left, the anti-gun movement, moves in, they exploit the issue, they’re exploiting these kids. As a 17-year-old kid that you were talking about the other day. First of all, he shouldn’t be popping off against the president of the United States,” Clarke said.

“My dad would have backhanded me at 17 years old if he would have heard me popping off to an authority figure.”

Pagliarulo then interjected that Emma Gonzalez’s “parents were standing next to her like patting her on the back and people were cheering and it was nothing but misinformation” and she’s being used “as a pawn.”

Clarke responded by attacking Gonzalez’s parents for purportedly allowing their daughter to be exploited, claiming: “They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree -- so her parents -- I don’t know her parents and I’m not going to disparage them, but they’re probably anti-gun ninnies too.”

From the segment: