Eric Swalwell running for President; Should focus on firearms: NPR

California representative Eric Swalwell is the last Democrat to run for president.

"I see a country in the quicksand, unable to solve problems and threats from abroad, unable to improve the lives of people here at home. Nothing is done" Swalwell said in an appearance on The show late with Stephen Colbert Monday evening.

After reviewing a list of issues ranging from foreign threats to student loan debt to gun violence, he added: "None of this will change as long as we will not have it. not a leader who is ready to tackle the problems we face, the solutions that we propose and that make good in the way we govern, I am ready to solve these problems. -United. "

Swalwell is the 18th Democrat to join the race for the 2020 presidential nomination of the party.

One of the key issues highlighted by the California Democrat, 38, is particularly important for young voters: gun safety. He is holding a public forum on the subject Tuesday at the BB & T Center in Sunrise, Florida, just 20 km from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the site of the 2018 massacre that killed 17 people. The BB & T Center, home to the Florida Panthers ice hockey team, is an arena that can accommodate more than 20,000 people.

The shootings in Parkland resulted in mass demonstrations and activism not only of shootout survivors, but many other young people in the country. In fact, Cameron Kasky, a survivor from Parkland, who was Swalwell's guest during the State of the Union address, participated in the town hall organization.

Swalwell also attacked the National Rifle Association, proposing a ban on assault weapons. The NRA placed Swalwell on the cover of his January magazine, which Swalwell embraced, claiming he "lives in the head of the NRA".

Swalwell was put on this cover after provoking controversy a few months earlier because of a response to a Twitter user. The user stated that Swalwell "wanted a war" for gun rights and that he was crazy "if you think I'm going to give up my rights and give the gov[ernment] all the power. "

Swalwell said, "It would be a short war, my friend, the government has nuclear weapons."

"The Snapchat King of Congress"

It would be logical for Swalwell to announce in a pop culture context, since he was appointed director of youth outreach for the Democratic House Caucus by Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi in 2015.

Swalwell, who was born in Iowa but grew up in California, is less known than some other Democrats who run for president. But he made cable news during Mueller's investigation into Russia's interferences in the 2016 election and alleged alleged collusion with the Trump campaign.

Swalwell is used to being the underdog. He got his seat in Congress in 2012 when he was only 31 years old. The former Deputy Attorney General of East Bay, a native of California, near San Francisco, has overthrown the 40-year-old Democrat, Pete Stark.

This tainted the party establishment, but he soon became sympathetic to Pelosi, a colleague from the Bay Area Congress – and a powerful Capitol Hill leader.

Instead of being the enemy of Swalwell, Pelosi, who was criticized for claiming the party needed younger leadership, embraced it. Swalwell became the "Congress King of Snapchat".

"I realized that a lot of our constituents were on Snapchat," said Swalwell The hill in 2016. "It was not only young people, but their parents had understood that their children were there."

Swalwell has been married to Brittany Watts since 2016. He had been married once before, but the divorce ended.