Andrew Yang Supporters Trend ‘YangBeatsTrump’ Hashtag After Emerson Poll Shows Him Defeating Donald Trump
As The Inquisitr reported earlier today, the recent Emerson College poll of New Hampshire showed Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang beating Donald Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head by eight points. Although Yang is currently sixth in polling average overall with 2.7 percent, the poll shows him faring better against Trump than all of his fellow contenders except for frontrunner Joe Biden, who leads the race with 29.8 percent support.
In response, Yang’s supporters, the Yang Gang, have pushed the “YangBeatsTrump” hashtag, which universal basic income (UBI) advocate Scott Santens highlighted broke into the top five Twitter trends in the United States.
Previously, the Yang Gang pushed the “TrumpFearsYang” hashtag as their candidate made an appearance at the New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention. Per The Inquisitr, many of them paired the hashtag with their stories of switching support from Trump to Yang.
Yang’s central proposal is a UBI of $1,000 for every American to cushion the purported impending job losses due to automation — primarily in the truck driving, retail, and call center industries — and proposes to pay for his plan in part by taxing the big technology companies posed to gain the most from automation. The 44-year-old entrepreneur suggests that the working class is struggling due to an economy shifting due to this rise in automation — not increases in immigration, as Trump says. His campaign’s focus on the working class echoes Trump, although he notes that while Trump was right about the problems facing America, his solutions were wrong.
UPDATE: We just broke into the top 5. On an Apple news day… Incredible. Way to go, #YangGang!
Also #YangBeatsTrump. pic.twitter.com/8aAO8SiPIm
— Scott Santens (@scottsantens) September 10, 2019
During an interview with The Telegraph, Yang suggested that he is “peeling off Trump supporters” because of Trump’s failure to follow through on addressing the problems he identified.
“There were many people who voted for Donald Trump because they believed his solutions, but his solutions were garbage and nonsense. They’re attracted to me because I’m talking about the same problems. I’m running to solve problems that got Trump elected. It means, if I’m the Democrat nominee, we will win, and most Democrats want a nominee who’s going to win.”
According to Yang, automation may not be here yet, but concerns over it are already affecting the economy.
“People who understand technology know my concerns around automation are coming true as we speak. They see it in real time,” he said.
#YangBeatsTrump you know it https://t.co/mBV8a6La2M I’m one of only 2 candidates getting double-digit support from Trump voters – which is what we need to win in 2020. #math ???
— Andrew Yang????? (@AndrewYang) September 10, 2019
As of now, Trump has yet to address Yang’s campaign publicly. The serial entrepreneur believes that Trump has remained quiet out of fear, having recently highlighted a comment the president made at a West Virginia rally that the only thing that scares him is an unknown candidate that “comes out of nowhere.”
