Andrew Yang received high praise from political observers for his analysis during his first day as a TV commentator.
CNN announced Wednesday that Yang, an entrepreneur who dropped out of the Democratic presidential race last week after single-digit showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, joined the network as a contributor. He made his first contributor appearance Wednesday to discuss that evening’s Democratic presidential debate, the first with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the stage.
“I don’t think he was coached hard enough,” Yang said of Bloomberg’s debate performance. “Number two, he was clearly instructed to keep his cool no matter what, but that ended up presenting as being lethargic and uninterested for a big chunk of the debate.”
Primary rivals piled on Bloomberg in the debate, attacking his record supporting stop-and-frisk policing policy, allegations of sexist comments toward women in the workplace, and his strategy to spend his own personal fortune on his presidential bid.
“The fact that he did not have those answers at his fingertips lets me know, categorically, he was not properly prepared for this debate,” Yang said.
Yang wore his signature “MATH” pin, which stands for his campaign slogan, “Make America Think Harder.”
Many political observers enjoyed Yang’s to-the-point analysis of Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate, particularly as someone who was in the same position as the remaining candidates less than two weeks ago.
CNN made a great decision to bring on @AndrewYang as a political commentator. he’s candid, speaks like normal people speak and i really like hearing what he has to say about stuff. https://t.co/TG3PwdmK3N
— Casey Neistat (@Casey) February 20, 2020
It’s annoying and utterly unbelievable when candidates insist, “Democratic voters will support whomever is the nominee.” So, some refreshing honesty from @AndrewYang just now @CNN: “I think it will be tough to galvanize Bloomberg voters behind Bernie and vice versa.”
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) February 20, 2020
Yang campaigned on providing a universal income of $1,000 per month to every U.S. citizen to combat changing economic factors brought on by technological automation. The unconventional candidate had an unusually positive and upbeat attitude on the campaign trail and inspired a “Yang Gang” of followers.
At one point during post-debate analysis, fellow CNN commentator Van Jones mourned Yang’s exit from the Democratic presidential field.
“The one I had the most hope in is you because you had a different set of ideas,” Jones said.
Every list of “Winners” tonight needs to include Andrew Yang who’s now a CNN contributor and I’ve been watching him crack himself up on a 7-person panel and nobody interrupts him and he has insightful things to say
— Hamza Shaban (@hshaban) February 20, 2020
Andrew Yang is really great on a panel as an analyst.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) February 20, 2020
And with one tweet, @AndrewYang proves to be more accurate and insightful than a year’s worth of @cnn political analysts. https://t.co/pBIn6GML1v
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) February 20, 2020
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang making his debut as a CNN political commentator, says Sen. Bernie Sanders goes into tonight’s debate as the frontrunner, with Michael Bloomberg “coming up quickly.” pic.twitter.com/iQYsS9c3cE
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) February 20, 2020
