Andrew Yang Added to DNC Convention Lineup After Initial Snub

Democratic presidential candidate businessman Andrew Yang passes as he speaks at the McInt
Matt Rourke/AP Photo
Hannah Knudsen

Entrepreneur and former Democrat presidential candidate Andrew Yang (D) will speak at next week’s virtual Democratic National Convention, he announced Thursday.

“And it’s official — we have been added to the DNC Convention speaker lineup!” Yang celebrated. “Thank you #YangGang and everyone else who made this happen!”:

Yang, who is slated to speak at the convention Thursday around 9 p.m. Eastern, expressed disappointment earlier this week after convention headliners began to surface.

“I’ve got to be honest I kind of expected to speak,” Yang said Tuesday.

“Maybe I endorsed against one too many incumbents,” he wondered:

Many spoke out following the apparent snub. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) called the omission of Yang a “slap in the face,” and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) remarked that it was “absurd to exclude him given the campaign he ran.” Even Fox Business’ Charles Payne assessed that Democrats were making a “monumental mistake” by leaving Yang out.

Yang’s optimistic attitude and devotion to math won over many voters throughout the primary, where he debuted his plan for a universal basic income — dubbed the “Freedom Dividend” — which promised $1,000 in “guaranteed” income to all U.S. adults every month.

Despite the relatively last-minute inclusion of Yang, the Democrat Party is in the midst of an ongoing battle with many progressives, who feel the Democrat establishment is continuing to diss them, particularly after Joe Biden’s (D) selection of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his running mate.

The far-left wing felt another ding after it was revealed that progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-CA) will only get 60 seconds of speaking time at the convention.

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