Andrew Yang said he won’t appear on MSNBC until the network offers him an on-air apology for granting him so little speaking time during the last debate.
Yang, 44, received the least debate time out of all the Democratic candidates on stage at Wednesday’s debate despite polling above multiple other contenders. Yang spoke for six minutes and 48 seconds, far behind others who spoke for more than 12 minutes.
On Saturday, Yang gave the network an ultimatum via Twitter if it wants him back on air.
“Was asked to appear on @msnbc this weekend – and told them that I’d be happy to after they apologize on-air, discuss and include our campaign consistent with our polling, and allow surrogates from our campaign as they do other candidates’. They think we need them. We don’t,” he said.
Was asked to appear on @msnbc this weekend – and told them that I’d be happy to after they apologize on-air, discuss and include our campaign consistent with our polling, and allow surrogates from our campaign as they do other candidates’. They think we need them. We don’t.
— Andrew Yang? (@AndrewYang) November 23, 2019
He also listed off other issues his campaign had with MSNBC.
“They’ve omitted me from their graphics 12+ times, called me John Yang on air, and given me a fraction of the speaking time over 2 debates despite my polling higher than other candidates on stage. At some point you have to call it,” Yang said. “The whole time we have gotten stronger. This is actually bad for MSNBC. It will only get worse after I make the next debates and keep rising in the polls.”
“The people are smarter than MSNBC would like to think,” he added.
The whole time we have gotten stronger. This is actually bad for MSNBC. It will only get worse after I make the next debates and keep rising in the polls. The people are smarter than MSNBC would like to think.
— Andrew Yang? (@AndrewYang) November 23, 2019
A RealClearPolitics average of polls has Yang at 2.8% nationally. At the time of the debate, he was polling ahead of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Tom Steyer, and Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
