Andrew Yang’s loyal band of followers, the “Yang Gang,” has pointed out that their candidate was ignored for over 30 minutes before being asked a question during the most recent Democratic presidential primary debate in Atlanta.
The 44-year-old entrepreneur-turned-presidential candidate was forced to wait roughly 32 minutes before he was given a chance to speak by the moderators. Twitter users pointed out that while fellow candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren was called to speak when she raised her hand, Yang was ignored when he attempted to do the same.
Given Yang’s history on the debate stage, with his mic reportedly being turned off during the Democratic debates on June 27 and repeatedly being snubbed by the media, Twitter users began trending the hashtag #LetYangSpeak once again, alleging that this latest incident could have been intentional.
A graphic from Statista has since revealed that out of the 10 candidates on stage on November 20, Yang was given the least amount of speaking time at just 6.9 minutes with Warren being given the most time to speak at 13.4 minutes.
As soon as he was given the opportunity to highlight his priorities as president, Yang eloquently spoke of the rise of artificial intelligence and climate change.
“We’re in the process of potentially losing the AI arms race to China right now because they have more access to more data than we do and their government is putting billions of dollars to work subsidizing the development of AI in a way that we are not,” he said.
“We are 24 years behind on technology. Now, I can say that with authority because we got rid of the office of Technology Assessment in 1995.”
When asked what he would say to Vladimir Putin if he were to be elected president, Yang delivered one of the best lines of the night by jokingly taking a jab at President Trump saying, “Well first I’d say, ‘I’m sorry I beat your guy,’” prompting laughter from the crowd.
“And second I would say the days of meddling in American elections are over and we will take any undermining of our democratic processes as an act of hostility and aggression.”
A January 2017 intelligent assessment from the CIA has confirmed that “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election.” Trump’s public denial of Russian interference and the inconsistencies in his claims are among the central concerns relating to the impeachment inquiry, according to Business Insider.
Yang concluded the debates by stating, “I am not running for president because I fantasized about being president, I’m running for president because like many of you here in this room tonight I’m a parent and a patriot and I have seen the future that we’re leaving for our kids and it is not something I’m willing to accept. We need to create a new way forward for our people.”
Although he was not granted a large amount of time to speak, Yang has earned praise from viewers as well as being named one of the winners of the debate by CNN, which described Yang to be “by far, the most relatable candidate on the stage” and one that has “drastically over-performed expectations.”
Additionally, Yang walked away with the largest increase in net favorability, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Feature Images via NBC New York
