Andrew Yang Campaign Clashes With DNC Over Debate Qualification, Will ‘Continue To Upset The Establishment’
On Monday, The Inquisitr reported that Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced that he’d met the qualifications for the fall debates by securing 2 percent in four approved polls. Just one day later, The Hill reports that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is rejecting one of the polls Yang used for qualification.
According to the DNC, the July 11 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll and the July 19 poll by NBC and SurveyMonkey can only be counted as one poll because they were both conducted by the same sponsor, NBC.
However, Yang’s campaign manager Zach Graumann disagrees.
“By the DNC’s own rules, the Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Fox News, and Quinnipiac are all approved organizations, and thus Andrew Yang has qualified for the fall debates,” he said. “We disagree with the DNC decision and are disappointed with the ruling.”
The DNC reportedly emailed campaigns Tuesday to notify them that only one of the NBC polls Yang used could be used for qualification criteria and added that polls of the same sponsor can only be used if they are from different geographies.
But the DNC’s response and handling of the situation caused backlash from some Yang supporters on social media.
“Can’t speak for the rest of the #yanggang but what I take issue with is the Yang campaign and some journalists reached out weeks ago for clarification and the DNC waited until the day after he got his 4th to clarify,” one supporter wrote.
“I’m not mad at the ruling, I’m mad at how they handled it.”
EXCLUSIVE: DNC rejects poll Andrew Yang used to qualify for September debate https://t.co/2ZS96Eqb5c pic.twitter.com/x0bOV1eZvK
— The Hill (@thehill) July 30, 2019
Regardless, Graumann claims that — while he’s frustrated seeing the rules “changed mid-game” — he is confident that Yang’s campaign will continue to succeed and “upset the establishment” as the race continues into 2020.
As of now, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, and Pete Buttigieg have made the fall debates. If Yang does end up qualifying — and he appears on track to do — he will be the eighth to make the lineup.
Yang’s outsider campaign has been completely grassroots and, at times, had a tough time getting attention from mainstream news outlets. Per The Inquisitr, MSNBC has frequently left Yang off of their presidential candidate charts while leaving on others polling below him.
Along with Bernie Sanders, Yang has the most support from former Donald Trump supporters, at least according to a recent Economist/YouGov poll. The pair were the only Democratic candidates to get double-digit support from former Trump voters, with 14 percent of people polled who voted for Trump planning to vote for Bernie and 10 percent voting for Yang.
