Andrew Yang reacts to Democratic convention lineup: 'I kind of expected to speak’
'Maybe I endorsed against one too many incumbents,' former presidential candidate jokes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang on Tuesday said he “kind of expected” to be invited to speak at the 2020 Democratic National Convention slated to begin next week, just after the lineup for the event was made public.
“I’ve got to be honest I kind of expected to speak,” Yang tweeted Tuesday.
“Maybe I endorsed against one too many incumbents,” he tweeted again, with a smiley face emoji.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Yang’s tweets come after the DNC announced a lineup for the convention next week, featuring prominent Democrats like former President Bill Clinton, former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State John Kerry and more.
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Also expected to speak at the mostly virtual convention are a number of former 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is also expected to speak at the event.
Yang, a tech entrepreneur, dropped out of the presidential race in February after initial results from New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary indicated a disappointing finish for him.
Yang declared his candidacy two years ago, and was a long-shot candidate for the Democratic nomination. But last year, he proposed a popular program called a “Freedom Dividend”—which was a universal basic income that would pay each adult American $1,000 per month. With his program and his energetic approach to campaigning, he soared to middle-tier status in the polls.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED AS BIDEN VP DECISION LOOMS
Upon dropping out, Yang told Buzzfeed News that there was part of him that felt “disappointed,” but also that “there’s a competitive part of me too—like I can’t believe I lost to these people.”
Fox News' Alex Pappas and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.