Andrew Yang: He's running on free money for all and so much more

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By Allan Smith

Andrew Yang wants to give citizens free money to combat the coming onslaught of automation, help America’s struggling malls and institute a “digital social credit” currency system.

Yang, a 44-year-old former venture capitalist who announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination back in late 2017, knows he sounds optimistic. He also knows most of the country still doesn’t know his name, though he has reason to believe that’s changing.

“I needed to declare early to introduce myself to the American people. And that’s what I’m doing,” he told NBC News. “Still, the majority of Americans have never heard of Andrew Yang, so I have a lot of work to do. But we are very excited by the progress of the campaign and we 100 percent think we can compete and win the White House next year.”

Yang has made some progress in his long-shot bid for the presidency. Recent appearances on comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast and on “The Breakfast Club” generated millions of views between them and “introduced me to a very large number of Americans very quickly,” he said.

Those interviews helped him catch fire on websites like Reddit and 4chan, and he gained tens of thousands of Twitter followers within weeks. He’s become the subject of internet memes with fans who refer to themselves as the “Yang Gang.”

The newfound support has bolstered his fundraising and made it likely he reaches the stage at the first Democratic debate in June, having met the party’s minimum requirement for individual donations, according to his campaign. And Yang, running an internet-centric campaign while visiting states like Iowa and New Hampshire, says he will keep talking to anyone willing to listen.

source: nbcnews.com