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  • A former tech company executive who's a political newcomer.

  • "I am not a career politician, as most of you know. I'm an entrepreneur."

  • With a devoted internet following.

  • "Hello, I'm Andrew Yang.”

  • And an army of memes.

  • Andrew Yang is running for president.

  • So, who is he?

  • Yang is the son of Taiwanese immigrants and a lawyer by training.

  • But he made his mark as an entrepreneur.

  • He helped build a college test preparation business that was bought by a big company.

  • And it made him a modest fortune.

  • "Are you ready to build something?”

  • After that, he started an organization that connects college graduates with startups.

  • That job took him across the Midwest and eventually led him to politics.

  • "We automated away four million manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and so I was like, why are we not talking about that? So, that's where this all started.”

  • So, what are his priorities?

  • Well, he's got a long list.

  • But the one policy that's turning heads:

  • "Universal basic income

  • "Universal basic income

  • "He calls it the Freedom Dividend.”

  • "Now if you've heard anything about me, you've heard that there's an Asian man running for president who wants to give everyone $1,000 a month. And all of those things are true.”

  • Yang says this will ease the pain caused by the robot apocalypse, as more jobs become automated.

  • His internet army, known as the Yang Gang, "Where's the money? Where's the money? We have the money." helped sell the policy with the #SecureTheBag hashtag.

  • But opponents of the plan say its price tag makes it unrealistic.

  • It could cost approximately $2 trillion, roughly half the current federal budget.

  • Some of his other policy proposals?

  • Medicare for all, gun safety and even free marriage counseling for all.

  • The dilemma to Yang as an internet darling?

  • Some of that support is coming from the internet's far right, in places like 4chan, Gab and 8chan.

  • Yang has spoken out against it.

  • But there's no doubt it's helped him go viral.

  • "You know, it's been a point of confusion because I don't look much like a white nationalist. So, I've completely disavowed any of that support.”

  • What's his relationship with President Trump?

  • Well, Yang has positioned himself like this: "The opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian guy who likes math.

  • And then there's even an acronym we're working with, which is Make America Think.”

  • And he hasn't held back.

  • "As an entrepreneur, most entrepreneurs feel like Donald Trump gives us all a bad name and he's more of a marketing charlatan than he is a real builder.”

  • Yang doesn't seem to be on Trump's radar just yet.

  • Yang says he's the candidate to beat Trump because he's focused on the economic anxiety that got Trump into the White House.

  • "We need to evolve to the next form of our economy in order for Americans to have a path forward.”

  • So, what are his chances?

  • Yang is still a fringe candidate by conventional standards and polling behind the leading Democratic contenders.

  • Yang Gang 2020. Yang Gang 2020.”

  • But in an era where a so-called meme army helped President Trump win, being an online megastar could still count for something.

A former tech company executive who's a political newcomer.

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