#BoycottMSNBC began to trend Saturday on Twitter after businessman Andrew Yang noted he would only go on the network if it issued an apology for an apparent media blackout against his campaign.
Yang tweeted Saturday that the network, which co-hosted the fifth Democratic debate Nov. 20, had asked him for an interview. The 2020 presidential candidate added that he declined and wouldn’t appear on the network until there was an apology on-air as well as a discussion about his campaign numbers.
They’ve omitted me from their graphics 12+ times, called me John Yang on air, and given me a fraction of the speaking time over 2 debates despite my polling higher than other candidates on stage. At some point you have to call it.
— Andrew Yang???? (@AndrewYang) November 23, 2019
Yang supporters backed up his decision, tweeting “#BoycottMSNBC” enough to make it one of the top trending hashtags on Twitter. Instead of speaking to MSNBC, Yang went on “CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera” Saturday to talk about the apparent media blackout.
WATCH:
“Well, Ana, Americans tuned into the debate earlier this week and they saw I got called on less than any other candidate, including candidates I am polling higher than, and the questions I did get had virtually nothing to do with the core ideas of my campaign,” Yang said on CNN. “And if this were an isolated incident, that would be one thing, but if you go back over the last number of months, MSNBC has literally omitted me from over a dozen fundraising and polling graphics — which it’s not about me.”
“It’s about the 300,000-plus Americans who donated to and support my campaign, and the millions of Americans who know we need to rewrite the rules of the 21st-century economy to work for us.”
MSNBC has left Yang off of dozens of lists naming the 2020 presidential candidate, has invited him on-air and then cut away to cover another presidential candidate and has avoided including him in the polling lists, according to a round-up by writer Scott Santens.
During the latest Democratic debate co-hosted by the network, Yang wasn’t asked his first question until 32 minutes in. He also received the least speaking time out of all 10 presidential candidates on the stage, according to an analysis from CNN.
“The whole time we have gotten stronger,” Yang tweeted. “This is actually bad for MSNBC. It will only get worse after I make the next debates and keep rising in the polls. The people are smarter than MSNBC would like to think.” (MSNBC Circumcises The Yang From Fundraising Graphic)
Yang has not yet qualified for the sixth Democratic debate in December, but added Saturday on CNN that he is one poll away from doing so. He has qualified for every other Democratic debate.
MSNBC did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation. The network declined to comment to the Daily Caller for a previous story on the apparent Yang media blackout.
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