Andrew Yang Blackballed From MSNBC’s 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Chart
Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang has (again) been removed from a list of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates provided by MSNBC. The chart appeared on the network Sunday morning and has received backlash from Yang’s supporters on social media.
The omission is notable because Politico reports that Yang has met both the polling and fundraising thresholds for the first 2020 presidential debate on June 26, while others included in MSNBC’s list — such as Bill de Blasio, Tim Ryan, and Eric Swalwell — have only met the polling threshold.
In addition to Yang, Marianne Williamson, Wayne Messam, and Mike Gravel were also excluded from the list, although Williamson is the only one of this group that has thus far qualified for a debate spot.
It’s not the first time that Yang has been blackballed from an MSNBC graphic, despite multiple appearances on the network’s programs. In addition, Yang was also excluded from a graph shared by fellow presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, which showed Sanders topping the 2020 field in terms of small-donor donations last quarter. Despite coming in second as regards this metric, Yang was excluded from the graph, as The Inquisitr previously reported.
The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur previously criticized Sanders for his “backward-looking policies,” which he claims are an attempt to “resuscitate an economy that existed at some point in the 20th century.” He also attacked Sanders for his “closed-minded opposition” to his Universal Basic Income (UBI) proposal, which Yang believes could be an effort by Sanders to seem less “revolutionary” and appeal to a wider audience.
“Bernie’s answer when asked about Universal Basic Income recently seemed closed-minded and a departure from his previous position on it.”
Yang previously blasted the media for its coverage of President Donald Trump, per the Washington Examiner. He suggests that they are failing to explain Trump’s appeal and doing the residents of U.S. a “disservice”
“I would say I think our media has done us a disservice by overly simplifying why Donald Trump is our president today,” he said, adding the Trump’s election was not due to racism, ignorance, or immigration, but due to automation, which removed more than 4 million manufacturing jobs from the country.
New Iowa Poll: Joe Biden leads the pack. https://t.co/11DC3290LQ
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 10, 2019
Yang recently appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher and spoke about his platform, per RealClearPolitics. During the Overtime portion of the show, he also revealed his thoughts on the break up of Big Tech companies.
“There are absolutely excesses in tech and our anti-trust laws are way out of date,” he said.
“They’re using price as the primary framework which doesn’t work for tech. But the zeal to break them up is a 20th Century solution to 21st Century problems.”
.@AndrewYang introduced himself to America tonight. And he did not disappoint. @billmaher https://t.co/wGegRE77pL
— Zach Graumann (@Zach_Graumann) June 8, 2019
