2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang revealed that he is more willing to go on Fox News than MSNBC at the moment. The remark follows a long feud with MSNBC, which culminated with last week’s presidential debate.
Yang’s anger with MSNBC coincides with the last presidential debate, during which he felt as though he was not treated fairly. He then demanded an on-air apology, or else he would refuse to appear on the network moving forward. A person familiar with the situation at MSNBC previously told the Washington Examiner that a private apology was issued over the weekend, however, Yang has refuted that publicly.
Following an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show Tuesday night, Yang was asked by the Daily Beast if “he thinks MSNBC is the most useful target for a Democratic primary candidate given that Fox News, well, exists.”
“I’m not on Fox all the time, so I don’t have the basis for comparison,” he answered. “All I’m saying is that I’ve been on MSNBC a number of times and they’ve still omitted me from over a dozen graphics, called me the wrong name on-air, asked me fewer questions in two debates. So at some point, you have to say this is not objective news coverage.”
“I’ve been on Fox I think a dozen times and I would go back, for sure. I would take any opportunity to talk to Americans,” Yang added, before later saying that his “displeasure really just applies to MSNBC.”
He also pointed out that “we laid out very clear and reasonable requests” and added that he’d be “on their air talking to voters” the day after the network complies with their requests.
Yang’s displeasure of the debate stems from him finishing last among all ten candidates in talking time. While he spoke the least, he was asked the same number of questions as Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, billionaire Tom Steyer, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. They all were asked one more question than Sen. Cory Booker.
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.
— Andrew Yang? (@AndrewYang) November 23, 2019
He has also taken offense at MSNBC misidentifying or forgetting him when it comes to on-air graphics, a trend that has occurred over several months.
Last weekend, Yang noted that “[MSNBC] omitted me from their graphics 12+ times, called me John Yang on air, and given me a fraction of the speaking time over two debates despite my polling higher than other candidates on stage.”
As he noted, the entrepreneur-turned-presidential candidate was identified as “John Yang” on-air in September, but a correction was made during the program and on Twitter later that day. More recently, he was omitted from a graphic earlier this month. However, the producers caught the omission, apologized, and corrected it for future usage.
