Andrew Yang Trolls Donald Trump On Hurricane Dorian: ‘I Keep My Sharpies In My Desk’
Donald Trump recently made headlines when he reportedly claimed that the state of Alabama was in the path of Hurricane Dorian. As The Inquisitr reported, he also presented a map of the hurricane’s path that was altered with a black Sharpie marker to show the storm hitting the southeastern state. However, the National Weather Service (NWS) stated afterward that this was incorrect.
During an appearance at the AAPI Victory Fund Forum on Sunday — available on YouTube — Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang was asked how he would deal with Hurricane Dorian if he were president and it was approaching the East Coast. The 44-year-old used the opportunity to take a jab at Trump’s viral Sharpie incident.
“Well I keep my sharpies in my desk, for one thing,” he said to applause.
Yang highlighted that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which he said is not a great strategy, pointing to the funds that were reportedly diverted from the agency to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“If anything, you have to have FEMA be standalone so it has its own resources and priorities. And then you need to make sure it has the resources it needs independently because we know with climate change that these hurricanes and storms and floods and disasters will be more commonplace.”
The entrepreneur continued to say that the U.S. needs to make its communities more resilient before hurricanes like Dorian strike, which supports his key proposal of a universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000 per month for every American over the age of 18. He said the U.S. has become too “reactive” and waits until something goes wrong before approaching these critical issues, which he suggests is an expensive strategy.
"My plan would increase the buying power for 94% of Americans, and the 6% it would not are doing very, very well," @AndrewYang says of his plan for universal basic income. https://t.co/DMcx1Rtf1j
— On Point (@OnPointRadio) September 8, 2019
Yang drew criticism from some when he suggested during the second democratic debates that Americans need to start moving to higher ground. Despite the controversy, NASA oceanographer Josh Willis said that Yang is right in a recent CNN interview.
“We should be retreating already from the coastline if we are looking at many meters [lost] in the next century or two,” he said.
Willis added that both the surface temperatures and temperatures underneath the ocean are increasing. In addition, Greenland’s ice sheet is melting and posing a danger to the planet.
“We are all connected by the same ocean.”
Yang is currently in sixth place in the polls with 2.7 percent and will participate in the September 12 Democratic debate as well as October’s debate.
