Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said Friday that Democrats have not done enough to engage voters losing jobs to automation, adding that President Trump has gained support in these areas because voters do not believe the “government is working for them.”
Yang in an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising” responded to a recent study by The New York Times, which found that working-class Americans who are at greater risk of being impacted by automation voted strongly for Trump in 2016 and even more in 2020. Yang said Democrats need to cater toward these communities, especially in Iowa and Ohio, which have previously supported Democratic candidates.
“They have to hone a message, not even a message, policies that actually can help address the people who are living in these towns whose plants have closed, whose farms have automated,” said Yang, who also recently founded the non-profit Humanity Forward.
“I think many many people came out for Donald Trump because it does not feel our government is working for them or cares about them or looking out for them, and the most powerful emblem of that is that we could not pass an additional relief bill after the CARES Act in March and April, and it’s now November,” he continued.
“The Democrats need to embrace a message that the government can actually deliver something to you that will improve your life,” Yang added. “The problem right now is that we’re engaged in these political arguments that a lot of Americans don’t care about and Trump has this incredible ability to channel folks who are fed up with politicians despite the fact that he’s the sitting president.”
Watch Yang’s interview above.
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