Technology entrepreneur Andrew Yang on Monday announced he has qualified for the third and fourth 2020 Democrat presidential primary debates.
“We did it #YangGang! As of today, we are officially the 8th candidate to qualify for the fall debates,” Yang wrote on Twitter. “We are in this for the long haul. Thank you all for your support.”
Yang is the eighth White House hopeful to clinch a spot at the fall debates. Other qualifying candidates include, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris(D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and former Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke (D-TX), and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D).
While Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) has met the polling approval needed to qualify, the lawmaker has yet to hit the donor requirement. Julián Castro, the Obama-era Housing and Urban Development Secretary, hasn’t met the polling threshold to clinch a spot.
The third Democrat debate will be held at Texas Southern University in Houston on September 12-13.
Yang, along with fellow White House hopeful and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson, leads the Democrat presidential field in podcast airtime. Williamson has five full days of podcasting hours under her belt, while Yang racked up two days and 12 hours of airtime.
Yang has gained notoriety for his chief campaign policy of giving every American a $1,000 monthly check.