Tech entrepreneur and Democrat presidential hopeful Andrew Yang said at the New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention on Saturday that Amazon is in part responsible for Donald Trump becoming the 45th president of the United States by sucking up billions of dollars in retail sales that have shuttered businesses in the swing states Trump won in 2016.
Yang said he concluded this from his years as a businessman after leaving a job as a corporate attorney.
“It was during those seven years that I got a firsthand look at why Donald Trump is our president,” said Yang, who was the last of 19 candidates to speak at the event. “It’s the biggest question that Democrats need to answer in 2020.”
“If you turn on the cable news, you might think he is our president because of some mixture of Russia, racism, Facebook, the FBI, Hillary Clinton emails, all sort of mixed together as some kind of brew,” Yang said. “But I’m a numbers guy and the numbers tell a very distinct story.”
“That the reason that Donald Trump is our president today is that we automated away four million manufacturing jobs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa — all the swing states that Donald Trump needed to win.”
“How many of you noticed stores closing where you live in New Hampshire?” Yang asked. “Look around you. That’s crazy but normal.”
“It’s unfortunately no longer crazy,” Yang said. “Why are those stores closing here in New Hampshire?”
“One-word answer,” Yang said. “Amazon.”
Yang said Amazon — owned by Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest man in the world who also owns the Washington Post — is “sucking up $20 billion in business every single year” but not paying any taxes.
“They are paying less taxes than anyone in this arena,” Yang said.
Yang also touted his “universal basic income” plan to give every American over the age of 18 $1,000 a month, and he ended his remarks with his now well-known tag.
“The opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian guy who likes math,” Yang said.
All of the other Democrat candidates — including nine who did not qualify for the next Democrat debate on September 12 in Houston — also spoke at the event.
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