In October, MSNBC circumcised Andrew Yang from a fundraising graphic. Yang was obviously bitter, but now it’s apparently water under the bridge — or a form of amnesia otherwise known as a medically-induced flip-flop. The Democratic presidential hopeful is scheduled to do a remote interview with Chris Hayes Thursday night.
Which is startling considering that the relationship between Yang and MSNBC has long been in the toilet.
“I’m pretty sure I should be in this graphic,” Yang sarcastically spat on Twitter at the time about a graphic that included Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris (who’s no longer in the race) and Cory Booker, who can’t seem to find his way back to a debate stage, but still thinks he’s surging.
Yang moaned in June that his mic malfunctioned during a NBC debate. In August, he said the presidential debates were no better than reality shows.
Suffice it to say Yang was pissed. He kept getting the short end of the media stick and wasn’t afraid to say so. In late November, he went completely badass and told MSNBC — in so many words — to go fuck itself.
“Was asked to appear on @msnbc this weekend – and told them that I’d be happy to after they apologize on-air, discuss and include our campaign consistent with our polling, and allow surrogates from our campaign as they do other candidates,” he tweeted pointedly about MSNBC when they asked him to come on air a week shy of Thanksgiving. “They think we need them. We don’t.” (RELATED: Yang Goes All Honey Badger Against MSNBC)
He ranted that “the people” were smarter than MSNBC would like them to think.
MSNBC PR had no official comment about it. But somehow the network tried to present a different narrative. But Yang wasn’t having it. “FYI MSNBC did NOT apologize to the campaign and did not initiate the call,” he tweeted. “Don’t let them spin it otherwise.”
Oh really? Look who’s doing the spinning now.
As the primaries grow nearer, Yang is rethinking his previous statements.
I am sitting down for a remote interview with Chris Hayes from South Carolina tonight. Chris, and other MSNBC journalists, have reached out to me and the team in the past days. I decided that I’d prefer to speak to as many Americans as possible – our message is too important.
— Andrew Yang???? (@AndrewYang) December 27, 2019
Basically, Yang will take what he can get.
“I appreciate everyone’s support,” he added. “You all are the best. Let’s get our message out to as many people as possible and shock the world in 38 days.”
As Yang suggested, “the people” are smarter.
Many of his followers understand why he’s reversing course and appearing on MSNBC.
But they don’t want him to just roll over like a dog.
Dogs For Yang assured him, writing on social media, “We’re with you boss! We just want fairness from @MSNBC, not special treatment. If they start their sh*t again, I’m gonna keep posting proof of #YangMediaBlackout on my FB feed. People are starting to see the their manipulating tactics and the truth will only keep spreading.”
PassiveHydro chimed in, adding, “Make sure one of your own people simultaneously records the entire interview, so that when they falsely edit it to demean you, you can expose them.
A follower named OneTrueKing was less forgiving.
“You need to call them out on their BS,” the person pushed. “Don’t just roll over and let them do their thing. You have to show your commitment to fairness, even if that means walking away mid-interview if they deflect or deny.”
And @7rashing was definitely not happy about this turn of events.
“Don’t agree with this decision at all,” Rash wrote. “They either apologize publicly or can f**k off. You will come off as looking weak.”