'Oh man Andrew Yang at the Stonewall endorsement meeting was an inexperienced, ill informed joke who keep telling us his campaign manager was gay over and over and naming one gay bar over and over,' Doran also posted on Twitter on Wednesday night. 'If you are thinking of voting for him, I beg of you, god help us, don't.' 651.6k Followers, 152 Following, 2,211 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Andrew Yang (@andrewyang). 23 hours ago Frontrunner Andrew Yang will be MIA, his campaign manager Chris Coffey confirmed, saying his candidate was already participating in three other official debates sponsored.
Mitchell Plitnick agreed: Category bmr. macs page.
This is an absurd characterization of #BDS.Very unfortunate that Yang would speak at length on a topic he obviously knows nothing about. There is room for reasonable debate about BDS. It is rather telling that, rather pursue such legitimate debate, BDS opponents lie about it.
Writer David Grossman chimed in:
My great-grandfather was in the shmata business on Rivington. For him to compare BDS to “fascist boycotts” shows no understanding of either fascism, anti-Semitism, or the occupation of Palestine
John Haltiwanger of Business Insider wrote:
Yang effectively endorsing apartheid and offering a take with dual loyalty connotations all at once.
BDS is not aimed at Jewish businesses; it targets the Israeli denial of Palestinian human rights. [The BDS website says: “BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.”]
Pandering to campaign donors
I believe Andrew Yang knew just what he was doing. It won’t hurt him with his middle of the road base, and it will only help him with the New York establishment and more conservative Jews. Political observer Abe Silberstein notes the importance of donors:
I’m not surprised Yang is taking a strong position against BDS. It’s a cost-free statement (for him) and it could bring in donors who otherwise would have stayed on the sidelines. And if those donors are from NYC, there is an 8:1 match.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has made opposition to BDS a keystone position of his administration. And Andrew Yang already has the endorsement of Ritchie Torres, the new congressperson who won in part by touting Israel.
Torres got the endorsement of the Democratic Majority for Israel, as did Raphael Warnock, the pastor who just was sworn in as a new senator from Georgia. Warnock won that endorsement by walking back statements critical of Israel. Yang has obviously seen all this and figured out his tactics.
As for The Jewish Vote’s claim that Jews are not monolithic, Yang’s stance will surely hurt him with left-wing Jews. But it will help him with other Jews, who are surely more empowered. 95 percent of American Jews support Israel, says Batya Ungar-Sargon, formerly of the Forward; that’s surely an exaggeration but if the number is closer to 70 percent, it means that anti-Zionist Jews are still marginal in the American Jewish community.
Philip Weiss is senior editor of Mondoweiss.net.
Sample email to send to Andrew Yang
(mail to events@yangforny.com and press@yangforny.com)
Dear Andrew Yang,
I was deeply disappointed to see your statements claiming that the Palestinian boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement is “rooted in antisemitic thought and history” going back to Nazi boycotts of Jewish businesses.
The BDS movement is not targeting Jewish businesses, but rather Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.
Given the devastating report of renowned Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem that Israel is operating an apartheid regime, my question to you is: What you would have people of integrity do in the face of this apartheid, if they must not follow the kinds of nonviolent tactics used to protest apartheid in South Africa?
Please reconsider your position.
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© Greg Nash Andrew Yang sparks Twitter uproar with pro-bodega videoNew York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang sparked an uproar Friday on Twitter after posting a video of himself throwing support behind 'bodegas,' with many claiming the store he was walking through was not, in fact, a bodega.
A 'bodega,' derived from the Spanish word for a wine shop or warehouse, is commonly used in New York to refer to independently owned family businesses, primarily in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods.
In Yang's video posted to Twitter Friday morning, the former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate appears walking through a store grabbing bottles of green tea and bananas, before turning to the camera and saying, 'New York City relies upon its 14,000 bodegas so much. I love bodegas.'
'We've got to make sure that they continue to stay open and do their thing,' he says while paying for his items. 'Can you imagine a New York City without bodegas? I can't imagine it, let's not have to.'
New York City loves its bodegas! The 14,000 bodegas are vital to our city - let's support them and keep them open. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/pGb24IerGz
- Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) January 15, 2021
While it was not clear which store was featured in the video and where it was located, several Twitter users were quick to argue that the location was a regular convenience store, mocking Yang for allegedly not knowing which businesses are bodegas.
Some Twitter users claimed that the video showed Yang was out of touch with the communities that have bodegas, with many posting memes and gifs to jokingly display their discontent.
lol that's not a bodega. https://t.co/dLgEgxYKZK
- ⚖️Imani 'I Smell Sex and' Gandy ⚖️ (@AngryBlackLady) January 15, 2021Andrew Yang is just the US tech bro version of Rory Stewart https://t.co/LqfJryk6uy
- Francis Whittaker (@frittaker) January 15, 2021Metrocard swipes. Bodegas. Maybe next we'll get a tour of Andrew Yang's 2BR in Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/qkTfLiSBdp
- Kristy Puchko (@KristyPuchko) January 15, 2021Andrew Yang is really building a campaign on:
1. Bodegas
2. Fake money
3. TikTok hype houses pic.twitter.com/f41maKJaPQ
- The Pigeon Pageant (@yosoymichael) January 15, 2021Yang's team did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment on the context for the video, though Yang later responded to criticism in a follow-up tweet, writing 'Haha I love New York,' along with a smiling face emoji.
The video came just two days after Yang officially announced his run for New York City mayor, saying that he hopes to help aid residents negatively impacted by the coronavirus-fueled economic crisis in the city.
Yang on his campaign website proposed 'the largest basic income program in history,' and called for an investment in a 'human-centered economy.' He also listed 'fact-based governance' and an accessible health care system as priorities for his campaign.
Zach And Matt Twitter
'We need to do all this while enacting accountable and smart policing, building affordable housing, closing our city's digital divide, modernizing transportation and city services, and more,' he added.
Andrew Yang Twitter Stats
'Let's fight for a future New York City that we can be proud of - together,' he said in a Twitter post announcing his campaign.