Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has been gaining lots of attention from comedians. From Dave Chappelle to Norm Macdonald, the candidate’s campaign — which centers around a universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000 per month — appears to be resonating with those in the notoriously difficult profession.
Chappelle is perhaps the biggest name to throw his support behind Yang. Although the Washington Examiner reports that he hasn’t publicly announced his endorsement yet, he is set to perform shows in South Carolina to back the entrepreneur’s campaign.
“Dave’s team reached out to our team, and they were thrilled to put the two of us together,” Yang said in New Hampshire on Thursday. “We sat down and talked about his concerns for the country and what we need to do for the next generation. Dave’s a dad like I am. And then after we met, he said, ‘Look, I want to help, and what can I do to help?’”
Back in October, Yang received an endorsement from comedian and The Eric Andre Show co-host Hannibal Buress. In a now-deleted tweet, Buress revealed his support in his response to being followed by democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders .
Macdonald has also engaged with Yang. He claimed on Twitter that he would throw his support behind the candidate if he became his “close personal friend.” The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur responded by claiming that he would be “happy” to work with Macdonald. Since then, the Canadian comedian has interacted with Yang via Twitter on multiple occasions, although his wry style could make it difficult to know if he’s being sincere.
Haha happy to work on it with you Norm. Let’s meet up in Iowa or New Hampshire. ??
— Andrew Yang????? (@AndrewYang) December 26, 2019
Other comedians who have thrown their support behind Yang include Joe Wong — who will be performing at a Yang fundraiser this month in San Francisco — and The Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng, who mentioned his desire for an Asian president in his recent Netflix special, Asian Comedian Destroys America!
“He seems [to be] a very pragmatic guy. He’s talking about the future a lot,” Chieng said of Yang while speaking to KCRW , adding that any choice is better than current president Donald Trump .
“So whoever you vote for is automatically an improvement, right? Might as well go for the Asian guy.”
Standup comedy has been described by many as a tough lifestyle, especially early in one’s career, and Yang’s UBI proposal would likely benefit struggling comics. Fittingly, the Democratic candidate got his initial surge into the spotlight from his appearance on comedian Joe Rogan ‘s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience , which has many regular guests from the industry, including Bill Burr, Tom Segura, and Doug Stanhope.