Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang ‘s “hover hand” previously caught the eye of supporters, including American rapper MC Jin, who pointed out Yang’s commitment to the practice back in September. On Friday, an old picture of Yang from high school was posted to Twitter by CBS News Campaign Reporter Nicole Sganga, and supporters noted that Yang was doing the hover hand even in his early years.
“lol Yang was ahead of his time,” one user wrote.
“Notice Yang’s hover hand. This picture is from somewhere around 20+ years ago. @AndrewYang is class through and through,” said another.
“#YangTheGOAT and #BreathtakingKeanu went to the same School of Hovering Hands,” another wrote, referencing previous photos of actor Keanu Reeves doing the hover hand.
The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur has long captured attention from supporters that jokingly refer to his hover hand.
“Hover hand game is on point. My man Yang is taking no chances,” one wrote back in June.
One user jokingly asked for a comparison of Yang’s hand placement to fellow Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who has drawn criticism for his tendency to get uncomfortably touchy with women.
Another commenter suggested that Yang is “beta” for his decision to refrain from touching the women he poses with. Per The Irish Times , Reeves’ photos sparked similarly divided opinions, with some suggesting the actor’s hover hand is a sign of respect to female fans and others claiming it shows that male celebrities and public figures must take such actions to avoid misconduct accusations in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
Writing for the Times , Laura Kennedy suggested that the celebration of Reeves’ hover hand was support for the “mixed gender standards” that put “groping weirdos” on the “odious” end of the spectrum and hover hands on the other side as the “unsettling” alternative.
Others, like Miles Klee, writing for MEL Magazine , suggested that Reeves’ hover hands provide one lesson for men.
“There’s a difference between valuing another person’s autonomy and cynically shielding yourself from a complaint you’ve pre-judged as spurious, and you are not a weak-willed loser for keeping your extremities off someone else’s body. Real men hover their hands. Get used to it.”
Yang’s unique campaign behavior has drawn attention many times throughout the primary. The Democratic candidate previously had a funny moment at the 2019 Accessibility, Inclusion and Outreach Conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when he pet fellow candidate Cory Booker’s arm. The moment was viewed as humorous by social media users and was noted by one supporter as an example of Yang’s ability to make people feel comfortable with him.
