TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The second generation Taiwanese-American candidate, Andrew Yang, who is running for the Democratic Party nomination for the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, has passed the threshold of private donations to qualify for a spot on stage at the first Democratic primary debate.



Yang remains an outlier with little notoriety among most U.S. voters, however that could be about to change once he takes the stage with other Democrat hopefuls this summer.



Earlier in 2019, the Yang 2020 campaign, with a message of “human-centered capitalism,” cleared the first necessary threshold of having 200 individual donors in at least 20 different states, reports Daily Beast. This past week, his campaign cleared the second hurdle of 65,000 individual donors nationwide.

As a candidate who describes himself as an “entrepreneur who understands the economy,” Andrew Yang is not a typical politician. While most view his chances of securing the DNC nomination as slim, he has recently been gaining traction and public notice online thanks to a surprisingly successful online marketing campaign: the Yang Gang 2020.



The “Yang Gang” has become the unofficial title for Andrew Yang’s quickly growing number of supporters.

The catchy, hip name for his political campaign is almost certain to be noticed by young and old voters alike over the next few months, and not only because Yang has successfully gamed the system to ensure a spot on the debate stage.



The more likely reason the U.S. voting public will shortly learn more about the Yang Gang will be thanks to an incredibly active online coalition of meme producers which has established itself in a very short amount of time. Even more curious is that the Yang Gang meme making coalition is one that stretches across a broad and somewhat confusing spectrum of political orientations.



In fact, many of the Yang Gang memesters and their provocative brand of humor are already becoming a matter of controversy for the campaign. However, as with most controversies, increased media attention is all but guaranteed.







Andrew Yang stands out among Democratic presidential contenders for his platform’s central issue, which is support of Universal Basic Income (UBI) for all U.S. citizens as an economic safety net to ensure their livelihood as the country enters the age of automation and big tech, which will drastically reduce the necessity of manual labor, says Yang.



Translated into humorous and attractive meme messaging, that means “Free money for everyone” or “US$1,000/month” to be precise. There is no mystery in how such a campaign promise can garner support from across the left-right divide in American politics, and the Yang Gang knows it.







There is however mystery surrounding the precise motivations of many Yang Gang memesters.



On Feb. 12, Andrew Yang was a guest on the influential Joe Rogan Experience podcast, and was invited by Rogan after the recommendation of well-known intellectual, Sam Harris. Yang’s campaign has recognized the podcast as a pivotal moment for the candidate.



In the days that followed, the Yang Gang meme campaign seems to have taken shape, rolling out across Reddit, Twitter, Discord servers, Facebook, and most notoriously, 4chan, who many, including 4chan users themselves, credit with the online success of the Trump campaign in 2016.

Presidential candidate @AndrewYangVFA is trying to save us from a robot dystopia. I think Arnold Schwarzenegger was meant to endorse this guy... or protect him.@Schwarzenegger #Terminator#Yang2020 pic.twitter.com/AzyVZgdnar

— Rock Toaster (@RockToaster) 2019年2月24日

Taking an obvious cue from what happened in the last U.S. presidential election, the Yang Gang does appear to be following the same viral meme playbook that bore success in what is colloquially referred to as the “Great Meme War of 2016.”



This association and online activity that appears to mimic the pro-Trump meme campaign of 2016 is where the confusion and controversy begins. From most observers of U.S. politics, any association with the 4chan message boards, which have a reputation for racist and offensive content, is radioactive and must be shunned.



The Andrew Yang campaign has already denied any association or endorsement of racist or bigoted content, declaring that “the memes being spread right now are sabotage,” and asking Andrew Yang supporters to “be SMART with your memes,” reports the Verge.







However, regardless of a meme’s source, an effective meme is an effective meme, and Andrew Yang supporters, whoever they are, have very quickly eclipsed the online campaign presence of every potential 2020 candidate with the obvious exceptions of Donald Trump himself, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

There is speculation that Andrew Yang himself and his campaign advisors are the masterminds behind the Yang Gang 2020 phenomenon, with a recent expose article published in the Clover Chronicle detailing this possibility.



Another possible scenario is that Trump supporters at 4chan are intentionally helping to catapult a minor Democratic candidate into the cultural and social media spot-light, in order to disrupt the Democratic primary field.



Then again, maybe people just like the idea of free money, and getting US$1,000 from the government every month, with no strings attached.



Whatever the case may be, in the age of viral online marketing and meme magic, the Yang Gang 2020 may be a game changer for the young Taiwanese-American and tech-savvy businessman, who wants to put “humanity first” and help average Americans #securethebag.

In previous statements, Andrew Yang has said that he is proud of his Taiwanese heritage, and that if elected he will support the status-quo in cross-strait relations between Taiwan and China.