Entrepreneur Andrew Yang has raised $750,000 since Thursday night’s Democratic Party presidential primary debate, The Hill reports.
According to the Yang campaign, the candidate’s haul was fueled by 20,000 donations. In a statement, Yang campaign chief Nick Ryan explained that the campaign’s priority is to make sure voters in Iowa and New Hampshire hear the White House hopeful’s message.
“It’s exciting that voters are seeing much more of Andrew in-person and on TV, but there’s still more to be done — we’ve found that when voters truly listen to what Andrew has to say, they very quickly consider him as one of their top choices,” Ryan said, touting the campaign’s fundraising prowess and ground game.
“His message, in conjunction with our strong ground-game, spell out tremendous upside for this campaign come February,” the campaign chief added.
The spike in donations comes following what is considered to be one of Yang’s strongest performances in the presidential debates so far.
During last night’s debate, the entrepreneur stood out by advocating for his universal basic income proposal, and by criticizing the lack of diversity on stage.
The fundraising haul builds on the $2 million Yang’s campaign raised after a 10-day bus tour of Iowa. The entrepreneur has a strong following on social media, and he has managed to outlast a number of seasoned politicians with high name recognition.
However, Yang still trails a number of top candidates in both fundraising and polls. According to the RealClearPolitics average of polling data, the entrepreneur is polling at around 3 percent nationwide, ahead of Senator Cory Booker, billionaire Tom Steyer, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro.
Yang rips D.C. politicians: “Washington, D.C., today is the richest city in our country. What do they produce? Bad decisions?” #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/FadxH0JvQL
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 20, 2019
A number of White House hopefuls have already released their post-debate fundraising numbers.
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has apparently managed to impress voters more than Yang, raising $800,000 since the debate. Klobuchar spent much of her speaking time attacking other candidates, especially South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
The Minnesota Democrat slammed Buttigieg for holding a fundraiser in a wine cave in Napa, California, and questioned his fitness for office pointing out that he is inexperienced, and that he lost a statewide race in Indiana.
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders raised more money than Yang and Klobuchar, setting a new personal record. According to his campaign, Sanders raised over $1 million, which marks his best debate-day haul so far.
Unlike the vast majority of candidates, Sanders has relied exclusively on grassroots contributions. According to his campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, this demonstrates that the senator is the best candidate to take on President Donald Trump in 2020.
