Andrew Yang announced that he will be speaking at the Democratic National Convention after initially being excluded from the lineup.
The Democratic National Committee reversed its decision from earlier this week to exclude Yang after he and his supporters expressed outrage that he was not offered a speaking slot despite his unique Democratic primary campaign. He thanked his supporters on Thursday for drawing attention to the snub and announced that he was added to the convention lineup for next week’s event.
“And it’s official — we have been added to the DNC Convention speaker lineup! Thank you #YangGang and everyone else who made this happen! #YangIsSpeaking,” he tweeted.
And it’s official – we have been added to the DNC Convention speaker lineup! Thank you #YangGang and everyone else who made this happen! ????#YangIsSpeaking
— Andrew Yang??? (@AndrewYang) August 13, 2020
Yang said on Tuesday that he “kind of expected” to be offered a speaking slot during the convention and was upset that he was not included in the original lineup. He suggested that he may have been excluded because he campaigned on behalf of some candidates who were not DNC-endorsed incumbents.
Beyond the snub to Yang, the DNC was criticized for not including any Asian American speakers at the convention. California Rep. Ted Lieu shared an article about Yang’s exclusion from the convention and questioned the DNC’s move.
“Dear @DNC: Asian Americans are the fastest increasing group in America, including in multiple swing states. The gross underrepresentation of Asian American speakers in the four days of the DNC Convention is tone deaf and a slap in the face,” he tweeted.
Dear @DNC: Asian Americans are the fastest increasing group in America, including in multiple swing states. The gross underrepresentation of Asian American speakers in the four days of the DNC Convention is tone deaf and a slap in the face. https://t.co/PkBRrVFUgO
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 11, 2020
The Democratic National Convention will take place online because of the coronavirus pandemic. Dozens of prominent Democrats were given speaking slots for the convention, which will also include speeches from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who identifies as an independent, and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican.
