Andrew Yang Says Identity Politics Don’t ‘Bring People Together’ Or ‘Build Consensus’
Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang recently appeared on The Rubin Report via YouTube, where he touched on everything from his Universal Basic Income (UBI) proposal, his experience as a failed entrepreneur, and the factors in his life that drove him to run for president. He also touched on identity politics, which have become a hot-button issue in the current political climate. A partial transcript of the interview from Breitbart reveals his feelings in more detail.
“I understand the sentiment and ideas around identity politics. I don’t think it’s a great way to try to build consensus or bring people together, or get big policies across the finish line,” he said.
Yang suggests that the Democratic Party needs to start moving away from issues that are divisive, such as identity politics, and focus instead on issues that will bring people together — while still acknowledging their unique and varying experiences.
“That’s one of my missions during this campaign is to make that case to say, ‘look, I understand people have different experiences I’ve had different experiences, but if we’re going to solve some of these problems, we have to emphasize the things that will bring us together and not the things that are going to make us seem like we’re living different lives.'”
From the Magazine: Here’s how random, opinionated person Andrew Yang made a place for himself in the Democratic field https://t.co/fpOPn3NaQf pic.twitter.com/LsVs17uKSG
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 10, 2019
As The Inquisitr previously reported, the 44-year-old serial entrepreneur has had a tough time getting attention from mainstream media outlets, not unlike fellow presidential candidate Bernie Sanders back in his 2016 run. MSNBC has repeatedly left him off the program’s 2020 Democratic presidential candidate charts — despite including candidates that are performing below him — and Sanders left him out of a graph that would have placed Yang second to Sanders in the 2020 field in terms of small-donor donations last quarter.
“I don’t think it (Identity Politics) is a great way to try and build consensus or bring people together or get big policies across the finish line. And I think it’s kind of a stupid way to win elections.” —- @AndrewYang pic.twitter.com/kEDK5IZthe
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) June 10, 2019
Regardless, Yang has earned a spot at the upcoming Democratic Presidential Primary Debate that is planned to air consecutively over two nights on June 26 and June 27. As The Inquisitr reported Tuesday, the debate will be led by Savannah Guthrie, anchor of Today and NBC News’ chief legal analyst; Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show; José Diaz-Balart, anchor of Noticias Telemundo and NBC Nightly News Saturday; Chuck Todd, moderator of Meet the Press and NBC News’ political director; and Lester Holt, the anchor of NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC.
The debate will feature 10 candidates per night. Holt will reportedly moderate the first hour alongside Guthrie and Diaz-Balart, while Todd and Maddow will moderate the second hour along with Holt.
