If there is one clear takeaway from Wednesday night’s debate, it’s that presidential candidate Andrew Yang is unlike the rest of the Democratic presidential contenders.
While the rest of the aspiring leaders try to tear down each other’s reputation, Yang stayed on point in delivering his campaign platforms and breaking them down into digestible forms.
It is evident that although he was given the least amount of speaking time, he was still able to elaborate on his plans of addressing the inevitable job scarcity brought about by automation through his proposed universal basic income.
Unlike his first debate, Yang was at least given ample time to respond to key issues and delivered magnificently for his #YangGang.
While many of his supporters viewed his performance as a slam dunk, some political pundits were still quick to take a dig at the rising star candidate by highlighting his realistic response to climate change and purposely misconstruing it as a defeatist approach.
“The important number in this is 15 percent of global emissions,” said Yang. “We like to act as if we’re 100 percent. Even if we were to curb our emissions dramatically, the Earth is going to get warmer. The last four years have been the four warmest years in history. We are too late. We are 10 years too late.”
“We need to do everything we can to start moving the climate in the right direction,” he continued, “but we also need to start moving our people to higher ground—and the best way to do that is to put economic resources into your hands so you can protect yourself and your families.”
A piece in “The Atlantic” completely ignores the part in which Yang noted the importance of efforts in “moving the climate in the right direction” and called his statements “horrific.” The word “horrific” was later removed from their article.
The Daily Beast even made a claim that Yang suggested to “forget prevention” and literally just move Americans “to higher ground.”
These talking points made it sound as if Yang was just a doomsayer without pointing out that he was responding to a discussion limited to the implementation of the Green New Deal, an initiative put forward by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Regardless, it appears his laser-focused approach to important issues has resonated among viewers beyond his supporters, based on the social media buzz after the telecast of the debate.
Netizens also appreciated his closing statement that criticized the pageantry of the entire debate format.
“We’re up here with makeup on our faces, and our rehearsed attack lines, playing roles in this reality TV show,” he said. “It’s one reason we elected a reality TV star as our president.”
Featured image via YouTube/GuntherSnaps
