Andrew Yang (D) would consider running alongside former Vice President Joe Biden (D), as well as other Democrat candidates should they get the nomination and offer him a position as a running mate, Yahoo News reports.
Yang spoke to Yahoo News and praised Biden, noting he has had “the most interactions” with the former vice president.
“He actually came to me and said he’s very concerned about the fourth industrial revolution and that if we automate away the jobs, it’s going to be a fundamental threat to the middle class,” Yang told Yahoo News.
“And that made me really excited because I was like, ‘Wow, Joe is listening,'” he added.
The presidential hopeful signaled he would be willing to consider running on his competitors’ tickets if they offered him a VP position, but “especially Biden’s,” according to the outlet.
“I’m going to help get Donald Trump out of office and help us win, and that’s in any capacity. Certainly, I want to be the nominee myself, but if I’m part of the team, I’ll do my part for sure,” Yang said.
“If any of the candidates prevails and asks me to be their running mate, of course I would take a very long, hard look at it,” he continued.
Yang emphasized he speaks to many of his competitors and is not opposed to including any of them in his administration, because “we need all hands on deck to solve the problems that got Trump elected and help move the country forward.”
“I could work with virtually all of them and will enjoy doing so,” he said.
Yang told Yahoo News he misses Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) on the campaign trail and gets along with her “very well.” He also praised Beto O’Rourke and his “natural interest in helping people.”
Yang said:
I share text messages with half a dozen of the other candidates. I would work with many of them. And as president, I can’t wait to enlist many of them to join the cabinet. I get along with Cory very well, with Kamala very well. I miss Kamala actually on the trail. I have a lot of respect for Beto. He was always very kind to me from day one and had a natural interest in helping people. And the people that are still in the field, I’ve had conversations with Joe, Bernie, Senator Warren about trying to solve problems together.”
While Yang would not tell the outlet who he would choose as a running mate, he signaled he would like the individual to be a woman and emphasized the importance of having someone who has “very deep relationships on Capitol Hill.”
“I would prefer to have a woman running mate because I think that organizations run better if you have strong male and female leadership at every level,” Yang said.
“The big test really is whether you have that degree of trust and comfort with someone because they have to be your partner, and you have to know that there’s a real chance that they’ll be the next president,” he added.
While Yang has been struggling to move up in the polls, averaging 3.4 percent support nationally, he is expected to participate in the December 19 Democrat presidential primary debate alongside six other candidates — Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tom Steyer (D), and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D).
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