Andrew Yang says if he's elected POTUS his first message to Russia's Vladimir Putin will be 'Sorry, I beat your guy'
Andrew Yang is not the best of the Democratic presidential runners this year. His numbers are not too great and of late, a section of the media was even accused of ignoring him. However, the 44-year-old grabbed the headlines during the fifth Democratic debate that took place in Atlanta on Wednesday, November 20. Yang was asked by one of the moderators over what he would tell Russian President Vladimir Putin if he is elected the president and his answers invited a round of appreciation.
Yang, who got to speak in the debate much later, waited for a few seconds before speaking and then said what his reply would be: “Sorry, I beat your guy”.
‘Days of Russia’s meddling in US polls are over’
He also said that he would make it clear to Putin that the days of Russia meddling in American elections are over as well and lead Washington to recommit to its international allies. America’s intelligence community had said in early 2017 that the Kremlin interfered in the presidential elections of 2016 to boost Donald Trump’s chances of winning it and it was done so under Putin’s orders.
Yang also said that the US needed 21st-century solutions to 21st-century threats that lie in issues like climate change, artificial intelligence, lose nuclear material, military drones and non-state actors. He also stressed on the importance of data and said he would like to see a new world data organization, like the WTO for data. He said China has more access to data than the US. He said the US has fallen 24 years behind, citing the fact that America’s Office of Technology Assessment was shut down in 1995.
The fifth Democratic debate saw the candidates attacking President Trump as a common enemy and speaking on issues like climate change. There was, however, little debate on issues like healthcare, something that has traditionally dominated America’s electoral politics.