Entrepreneur Andrew Yang announced on Tuesday he is shutting down his presidential campaign after dismal results in the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary, but he also is signaling that his future may include another run for the White House.
“We’ll be back,” Yang tweeted after the New Hampshire primary.
Fox News reported on Yang’s possible political future:
He’s reportedly already talked about running for president again. According to Rolling Stone, Yang signaled as much on a call with staffers in the waning days of his campaign.
“Imagine a world where we put up a really great number on Tuesday, and then let’s say we decide to run this back again in four years,” he said, according to the outlet. “If you start with that base in New Hampshire, plus everything that we have the next time around, we’re going to be even better positioned to see the goals of this campaign through, eradicate poverty, improve the human condition, and help move this country we love forward in the right direction.”
We’ll be back.
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) February 12, 2020
That would be good news for the “Yang Gang,” the name given to his supporters, who now are part of Yang’s first political venture.
“I’m the first Asian American man to run for president, and I’m very proud of my heritage of being Asian American,” Yang said in a video posted on the Washington Post’s website. “But I think my race is essentially a non-factor for most of the Americans I talk to around the country.”
On the debate stage, Yang played up his outsider status. “The opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who likes math,” Yang said.
His promise to give a “freedom dividend” of $1,000 a month for a year to Americans seemed to catch his opponents by surprise. His official platform would guarantee that $1,000 a month to every American over 18.
Yang also chose wearing a pin displaying the word “math” over the American flag that candidates traditionally wear in political campaigns, and even mixed the flag tradition up.
Business Insider reported on his pin strategy:
“Math” is an acronym for “Make America Think Harder,” according to Yang, a play on President Donald Trump’s slogan of “Make America Great Again,” or MAGA.
Yang has been no stranger to breaking the mold when it comes to debate fashion. He wore the flag lapel pin on the right side of his jacket during the Houston debates, instead of the left.
And Yang repeatedly warned that the automation of jobs would put Americans out of work.
“Automation doesn’t just affect millions of factory workers and truck drivers,” Yang wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times in November 2019 titled “Andrew Yang: Yes, Robots Are Stealing Your Job.”
Yang wrote:
Bookkeepers, journalists, retail and food service workers, office clerks, call center employees and even teachers also face the threat of being replaced by machines. These are some of the most common jobs in America. According to the Council of Economic Advisers in 2016, 83 percent of jobs paying less than $20 per hour could have substantial parts of their work given over to automation. And advanced degrees won’t protect you from this threat — doctors, accountants, and even lawyers face the same risk.
Yang’s website store also reflected his presidential platform, including a unisex T-shirt emblazoned with three words: “Math Money Marijuana,” the latter of which he favored legalizing.
When Yang announced he was suspending his campaign, he said he could no longer accept donations with the knowledge he would not win the presidency.
Van Jones, a CNN commentator and former member of the Obama administration, tweeted his appreciation for Yang. “@AndrewYang represented a positive populism. So much of politics is about ‘who do you hate.’ You could join the #YangGang and not hate anyone…From a decade perspective, he is a much more significant voice than we recognize,” Jones tweeted.
@AndrewYang represented a positive populism. So much of politics is about 'who do you hate.' You could join the #YangGang and not hate anyone…From a decade perspective, he is a much more significant voice than we recognize. #CNN #NHPrimary pic.twitter.com/chUdn1zzT0
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) February 12, 2020
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