Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign is denying a claim that MSNBC apologized to him over what he perceives as unfair treatment from the network.
Yang, who was an entrepreneur before declaring his 2020 candidacy, reached his breaking point with the network following last Wednesday’s presidential debate. He subsequently called for a boycott of the network and refused to appear for an interview.
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
An individual at MSNBC with knowledge on the matter told the Washington Examiner that the network privately apologized to the campaign over the weekend; however, Yang’s national press secretary S.Y. Lee refuted that claim to the Washington Examiner.
Yang’s recent frustration with the network coincides with the last presidential debate, during which he felt as though he was being disrespected. It took over half an hour for Yang to receive his first question from the moderators last week, and it occurred after front-runner Elizabeth Warren was asked multiple questions. The Yang campaign proceeded to use this grievance to fundraise.
“Americans tuned in to the debate earlier this week, and they saw that I got called on less than any other candidate, including candidates that I am polling higher than. And the questions I did get had virtually nothing to do with the core ideas of my campaign,” Yang said during an interview on CNN Saturday.
While Yang and his supporters are quick to point out that he spoke the least of 10 ten candidates on the debate stage, the entrepreneur-turned-presidential candidate was asked five questions during the two-hour debate, the same number 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, who was only asked four questions.
During last month’s presidential debate, which was on CNN, Yang spoke more than Steyer, Gabbard, and Julian Castro, who failed to qualify for last week’s debate, according to the Washington Post. But he also spoke the least during the September debate, which was on ABC News, as well as July’s two-night debate on CNN. Yang also spoke the least during the party’s first presidential debate, which was broadcast on NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo; however, his poll numbers were lower at the time.
Yang has also taken exception with MSNBC misidentifying or forgetting him when it comes to on-air graphics, which has taken place over several months. The presidential candidate noted in his Twitter thread last week 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 2 debates despite my polling higher than other candidates on stage.”
During the CNN interview, he added, “And if this were an isolated incident that would be one thing. But if you go back over the last number of months, MSNBC has literally omitted me from over a dozen fundraising and polling graphs. Which, it’s not about me, it’s about the 300,000-plus Americans who have donated to and support my campaign.”
As he noted, Yang was identified as “John Yang” on-air in September, but a correction was made during the program as well as on social media later that day. More recently, the entrepreneur was omitted from a graphic earlier this month. However, the producers caught the omission, apologized, and corrected it for future usage.
UPDATE: Yang tweeted in response to the Washington Examiner’s story, “I can guarantee there has been no apology.”
