Andrew Yang ripped the Democratic Party for focusing on President Trump rather than the issues he believes are key to winning the 2020 election.
Yang, 44, claimed that Democrats lost to Trump in 2016 because they did not pay attention to the declining employment opportunities in swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. During an interview on ABC’s This Week, he urged his party to stop worrying about Trump and start focusing on issues that voters care about in swing states.
“It’s clear the reason Donald Trump is our president is that we automated away 4 million manufacturing jobs that were primarily based in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Iowa — the swing states he needed to win. And what we did to those jobs we’re now going to do to the retail jobs, the call center jobs, the fast-food jobs, and eventually the truck driver jobs,” he said. “We need a way forward for all Americans independent of your political affiliation.”
Yang noted that Americans have reported high levels of financial stress because of personal debt burdens, which are mirrored in an increase in drug overdoses and suicides. He claimed these issues must be addressed by candidates if they want to win in 2020.
“The Democratic Party is acting like Donald Trump is a cause of all of our problems. He’s a symptom, and we need to cure the underlying disease,” the entrepreneur said.
Yang has proposed a universal basic income of $1,000 to all Americans, regardless of personal wealth. His message has resonated well enough to earn him one of seven spots on the December debate stage and a RealClearPolitics polling average of 3.6% nationwide.
