Andrew Yang withdraws from Democratic presidential race, calls himself 'math guy'

Democratic primary and entrepreneur Andrew Yang dropped out of the presidential race saying he is a ‘math guy’ and the numbers were clear that he won’t be able to win the candidature. Speaking in front of a crowd of supporters, Yang said that it was not an easy decision to make and he always intended to stay in the race till the very end. 

“But I have been persuaded that the message of this campaign will not be strengthened by my staying in the race any longer,” said Yang.

The 45-year-old entrepreneur had pushed his campaign on the promise of universal basic income which he called the “freedom dividend”. Yang’s announcement of providing $1,000 checks to chosen individuals created a buzz but it also drew criticism from several sections who accused the businessman of bribing voters.

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Yang’s campaign was considered unconventional where the Columbia Law School graduate threw a lot of statistics during his speeches. The entrepreneur supporters were known as ‘Yang Gang’ who donned blue hats and pins with ‘MATH’, an abbreviation of Yang’s campaign slogan ‘Make America Think Harder’, inscribed on it. 

Read: Andrew Yang Having Fun, But Democrat’s Message Is Serious.

Raised notable fund

The Democratic primary raised a notable amount of fund for his campaign which outlasted several senators and governors. Initially, Yang funded the campaign on his own but built large online support and raised more money than most of his rivals. In the final quarter of 2019, Yang raised over $16 million which fell short of just four other candidates’ funding.

“We went from a mailing list that started with just my Gmail contact list to receiving donations from over 400,000 people around the country and millions more who supported this campaign,” said Yang. 

In December 2019, another democratic primary and former District Attorney Kamala Harris had dropped out of the election campaign after she failed to generate enough funds.

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(With AP inputs)