Presidential candidate Andrew Yang told Bill Maher on Friday evening that embracing “identity politics” is a “very poor way” for Democrats to try to win national elections.
At a time when the party seems intent on doubling down on every single type of identity politics and embrace “salad bowl” politics and separatism, Yang said that, as the son of immigrants, he understands “the impulse behind identity politics.”
But he said that “Democrats have to know that identity politics is a very poor way to approach winning national elections, and it’s a very poor way to bring our country together.”
Platner aide hit with brutal timeline check after campaign denied rape claim, then folded days later
EXCLUSIVE: Former ‘Apprentice’ star picked by Trump to showcase America’s 250th anniversary through art
The RNC wants a massive Trump celebration. Some worry ordinary Republicans can’t afford to attend
BREAKING: GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham Dead at 71
Sen. Lindsey Graham dead at 71 after ‘brief and sudden’ illness, office says
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Alleged K-12 fraud, one school’s battle with Newsom and a win in Florida
‘Die Hard’ actor Robert Davi blasts Mamdani after NYC map omits Little Italy
Dem governor escalates McConnell health demands, cites response to past Trump health concerns
Another US citizen tests positive for Ebola virus while working in Congo amid record outbreak
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez to stump for Abdul el Sayed in Michigan Senate primary
Army Black Hawks airlift 200-plus stranded campers as Missouri floods trigger more 350 rescues
Renowned Feminist Historian Loses Professorship as Experts Tear Apart Her So-Called Historical Findings
NYPD officer charged with rape, child sex crimes previously admitted to misconduct on the job, records show
Trump Signals Daylight Savings Time May Soon Become Permanent, Praises Bill
Teen Athlete Goes Viral After Revealing She Was Sexually Harassed by Trans Athlete in Locker Room
“We have to enact solutions that will help all americans. And when Martin Luther King championed a guaranteed minimum income in the ’60s, which is almost exactly like my and freedom dividend, he didn’t do it for any subset of Americans. He did it for all Americans and that’s again how we move our country forward,” Yang said on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) started the 2020 discussion about “identity politics” when she claimed the term is used to “shut you up” about issues dealing with race, sexual orientation and religion.
Platner aide hit with brutal timeline check after campaign denied rape claim, then folded days later
EXCLUSIVE: Former ‘Apprentice’ star picked by Trump to showcase America’s 250th anniversary through art
The RNC wants a massive Trump celebration. Some worry ordinary Republicans can’t afford to attend
BREAKING: GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham Dead at 71
Sen. Lindsey Graham dead at 71 after ‘brief and sudden’ illness, office says
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Alleged K-12 fraud, one school’s battle with Newsom and a win in Florida
‘Die Hard’ actor Robert Davi blasts Mamdani after NYC map omits Little Italy
Dem governor escalates McConnell health demands, cites response to past Trump health concerns
Another US citizen tests positive for Ebola virus while working in Congo amid record outbreak
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez to stump for Abdul el Sayed in Michigan Senate primary
Army Black Hawks airlift 200-plus stranded campers as Missouri floods trigger more 350 rescues
Renowned Feminist Historian Loses Professorship as Experts Tear Apart Her So-Called Historical Findings
NYPD officer charged with rape, child sex crimes previously admitted to misconduct on the job, records show
Trump Signals Daylight Savings Time May Soon Become Permanent, Praises Bill
Teen Athlete Goes Viral After Revealing She Was Sexually Harassed by Trans Athlete in Locker Room
“This term identity politics, people will use that term— it’s like people used to talk about the race card. They bring this term up when you talk about issues that are about race, about sexual orientation, religion,” Harris said. “They bring it up when we are talking about civil rights issues as a way to marginalize the issue, as a way frankly to try to silence you or shut you up.”
Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in recent months has also urged Democrats to triple down on identity politics, saying that identity politics is the way to win for Democrats.
“The notion of identity politics has been peddled for the past 10 years and it’s been used as a dog whistle to say we shouldn’t pay too much attention to the voices coming into progress,” Abrams recently said. “I would argue that identity politics is exactly who we are and exactly how we won.”
Yang credited President Donald Trump for realizing how much working-class Americans were hurting and said Democrats need to stop “condescending” to regular Americans who do not live in so-called “super zips” and other well-to-do liberal enclaves that have disproportionately benefited from the high-tech economy.
“When I was growing up, the Democratic party was the party of the working class, the little guy or gal. We need to get back to that. I can’t tell you how much credit Donald Trump got just for calling out the pain that many of these communities are in,” Yang added. “And so if the Democratic party stops condescending and says, ‘look, we’re here to actually work on solving your problems,’ we can go very very far with many of the people who voted for Donald Trump.”
Story cited here.
