Yang Gang

2019

Date: Mid 2019 · Place: Twitter · Reddit r/YangForPresidentHQ · 4chan /pol/ · Figures: Andrew Yang, entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate · the Yang Gang, online supporter coalition · Tags: Democratic Primary, UBI, Crossover 01. The Math Andrew Yang, a former tech-sector entrepreneur, announces a Democratic presidential campaign on a single policy: a one-thousand-dollar monthly Universal Basic Income he calls the Freedom Dividend. He wears a 'MATH' pin on the debate stage. His campaign hashtag is #YangGang. The supporter coalition is unusual: progressive Democrats, libertarians, and a measurable population of 4chan /pol/ posters who endorse him as the only candidate willing to write white working-class men a check. 02. Vaporwave Edits Yang Gang fan edits run on a single aesthetic: vaporwave, palm trees, pink and teal sunsets, the candidate's head pasted over synthwave grids. The visual language is borrowed from the same /pol/ accounts that made Trump Wave in 2016. Yang himself never disowns the crossover support, only the racist subset of it. He drops out on 11 February 2020 after a low New Hampshire finish. He later runs for New York City mayor in 2021, finishes fourth in the Democratic primary, and starts a third party. The Yang Gang aesthetic outlasts the candidacy. Sources • Kevin Roose, 'His 2020 campaign message: The robots are coming,' New York Times Magazine, 10 February 2019 • Aja Romano, 'Why some of Andrew Yang's online fans are alt-right trolls,' Vox, 30 July 2019 • Know Your Meme, 'Yang Gang'