2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang has ended his MSNBC boycott, tweeting Friday morning that he would sit down with the network’s anchor Chris Hayes in the evening.
“I decided that I’d prefer to speak to as many Americans as possible – our message is too important,” Yang tweeted about his interview announcement.
Yang first decided to boycott the network in November when he tweeted that MSNBC 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 for an apparent media blackout against his campaign.
I appreciate everyone’s support. You all are the best. Let’s get our message out to as many people as possible and shock the world in 38 days. ????????????????
— Andrew Yang???? (@AndrewYang) December 27, 2019
Reports circulated that MSNBC had issued a private apology after Yang’s boycott announcement. The presidential candidate denied that any apology had been issued. (RELATED: #BoycottMSNBC Trends On Twitter After Yang Demands Apology From Network For Apparent Media Blackout)
Instead of appearing on MSNBC, Yang spoke to CNN’s Ana Cabrera on “CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera” on Nov. 23.
“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,” Yang noted.
MSNBC has left Yang off of dozens of lists naming the various 2020 presidential candidates and has invited him on-air to then cut away to cover another presidential candidate. The network has also failed to include him in the polling lists, according to a previous round-up by writer Scott Santens.
“The whole time we have gotten stronger,” Yang tweeted after his boycott announcement in November. “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.”
The entrepreneur has consistently called out the media, ripping into outlets for their coverage of impeachment and President Donald Trump during the Democratic debate Dec. 19. He cited this as a reason why Americans can’t agree on impeachment.
“The media networks didn’t do us any favors by missing a reason why Donald Trump became our president in the first place,” Yang said during the debate. “If you turn on cable network news today, you would think he’s our president because of some combination of Russia, racism, Facebook, Hillary Clinton and emails all mixed together.”