Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony Wednesday was disappointing for both Republicans that wanted to hear about the Steele dossier and Democrats that wanted Mueller to address the actions of Attorney General William Barr and Congress. Per The Inquistr , CNN ‘s Chris Cillizza said Mueller’s demeanor was “shaky,” and he also highlighted the contradictions between Mueller’s words and his report.
Andrew Yang took to Twitter to address Mueller — and the media’s focus on anything related to President Donald Trump.
“Robert Mueller: 1. ‘My report does not exonerate Trump.’ 2. ‘Read my report.’” he tweeted.
“When Trump is the center of attention — even in a negative way — he’s dominating the narrative,” Yang wrote in a subsequent tweet. “We need a new narrative.”
During his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee, per The Inquisitr , Mueller said that Trump could still be indicted after leaving office. This has lead some pundits to suggest that potential obstruction of justice during Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election could come back to haunt Trump.
But Yang has previously suggested that prosecuting Trump is something he would like to see avoided.
“If you look around the world, one pattern that America should seek to avoid is prosecuting past leaders and presidents and imprisoning them,” he told Fox News in June. “That’s something that America has never fallen into and that’s the way I would hope that we proceed with me in the White House.”
Rep. Schiff (D-CA) asks if Mueller was ever able to ascertain whether Trump still intends to build a Tower project in Moscow.
Mueller: ‘I’m not going to speculate on that.’ #MuellerHearing pic.twitter.com/56yBMgAvcg
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 24, 2019
Although Yang faced criticism for his comments from some, his campaign has consistently focused on staying above partisan rhetoric. The 44-year-old’s press secretary and political director, Randy Jones, recently told Business Insider that — although he is looking forward to the next debates — Yang doesn’t exactly fit comfortably into debate formats that encourage confrontation and spectacle.
Jones said that the debates ultimately boiled down to career politicians focusing on interrupting each other to launch personal attacks.
“If Democrats try to play Trump’s game, we’re going to lose.”
ABC News reports that Yang will take the CNN debate stage on July 31 alongside Joe Biden, Tulsi Gabbard, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Michael Bennet, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bill de Blasio, and Jay Inslee. Although Yang has passed the donor requirements for the fall debates in September and October, he must now reach 2 percent in three more approved polls by August 29.
Yang’s signature policy proposal is a universal basic income (UBI), or $1,000 per month for every American over the age of 18, to combat job losses due to automation and an ever-changing economy.
