Andrew Yang, Michael Bennet Drop From Presidential Race

By
Lawrence Richard
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Businessman Andrew Yang and Senator Michael Bennet are ending their presidential bids after poor performances in both the Iowa and New Hampshire presidential primary contests.

Yang finished the New Hampshire primary in 8th place, scoring behind billionaire Tom Steyer and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard while Bennet took the 11th place, finishing behind write-in candidates and Governor Deval Patrick.

“While there is great work left to be done — you know I am the MATH guy — it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race,” Yang told a group of his supporters on Tuesday evening, ABC News reports. “I am not someone who wants to accept donations and support in a race that we will not win. And so tonight, I am announcing I am suspending my campaign for president.”

“My goal when I first started running was to solve the problems that got Donald Trump elected,” he added. “In order to do that, I will support whoever is the Democratic nominee.”

“I am so proud of this campaign. Thank you to everyone who got us here,” Yang also posted to Twitter.

Yang undoubtedly surprised a lot of people in the Democratic primary, quickly garnering support with his basic universal income proposal and his relatively moderate policy positions compared to more far-Left candidates.

ABC News adds:

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Yang ran on a promise to deliver the “Freedom Dividend,” his signature universal basic income policy that would give $1000 a month to every American over the age of 18 who opts in. Despite it being one of the main reasons people were drawn to his campaign, the idea never caught on among his fellow Democratic candidates.

“Universal Basic Income is obviously the flagship proposal of my campaign,” he said at an event in New Hampshire. “There are many other things I’m very passionate about, but universal basic income is the single most powerful and effective thing we can do to improve our way of life very very quickly.

Yang often touted that one of his key qualifications to be president of the United States was his track record of creating “thousands of jobs.” His claim to the title rested largely on Venture for America, an innovative nonprofit he launched in 2011 with a clear objective: Create 100,000 new jobs by 2025 by placing top college graduates at startups across the country.

Bennet failed to garner any traction in the race and even fell behind the total number of write-in candidates during the New Hampshire primary (0.3 percent for Bennet vs. 1.5 percent for total write-ins).

“I thought it was quite possible today that we would fall short and I didn’t know that I would give that speech until about 15 minutes ago,” Bennet said after some of the New Hampshire results began to come in.

“I am going to do absolutely everything I can do as one human being to make sure that Donald Trump is a one-term president,” he added per ABC News. “I will support the nominee of my party no matter who it is to make sure that we defeat Donald Trump.”

Bennet teased he could run again in the future.

“Tonight is not going to be our night, but let me say this to New Hampshire, you may see me once again,” Bennet concluded.

While Yang and Bennet underperformed, several candidates including Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar did very well and will now move forward with tremendous momentum into the remaining contests.