- Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is officially dropping out of the 2020 Democratic primary race after a disappointing sixth-place finish in the New Hampshire primary, he announced.
- At the time Yang announced the end of his campaign with almost 25% of the precincts reporting, he was in eighth place behind Tom Steyer and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
- The Yang campaign indicated to supporters and to its staff that it would no longer be viable if Yang did not place within the top four candidates in New Hampshire, including in a Saturday fundraising email.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is officially dropping out of the 2020 Democratic primary race after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary, he announced at 8:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
At the time Yang announced the end of his campaign with almost 25% of the precincts reporting, he was in eighth place behind Tom Steyer and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Yang based his unique campaign platform around his signature Freedom Divided, a universal basic income proposal that would give every American citizen $1,000 per month. More than any other candidate, Yang sounded the alarm on the dangers of automation to the American economy as we know it.
After building a grassroots movement and experiencing a meteoric rise on the national scene, Yang suffered a humbling defeat in the Iowa caucuses, earning just 1% support in the second caucus alignment and receiving zero pledged delegates out of state.
"While there is work left to be done, you know I am the math guy and it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race," Yang said. "I am not someone who wants to accept donations and support in a race that we will not win."
“We went from a mailing list that started with just my Gmail contact list to receiving donations from over 400,000 people around the country and millions more who have supported this campaign,” @AndrewYang says after announcing he has suspended his presidential bid pic.twitter.com/oQmoBwJjcb
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) February 12, 2020
In the wake of the Iowa caucuses, the campaign made significant cuts to its staff, laying off dozens of people across different levels of the campaign.
The Yang campaign indicated to supporters and to its staff that it would no longer be viable if Yang did not place within the top four candidates in New Hampshire, including in a Saturday fundraising email.
"If we miss this fundraising goal and our target finish in New Hampshire, I don't believe we can continue contending at the same level," he wrote.
In a recording of a campaign-wide staff call on Friday obtained by Insider and originally reported by Rolling Stone, a defeated-sounding Yang acknowledged the toll of the layoffs and the uphill battle the campaign is facing ahead of New Hampshire.
"The caucus format was singularly opposed to the dynamic that our campaign tends to attract," Yang said of Iowa, adding, "New Hampshire is, in some ways, the most Yang Gang environment you could imagine."
But on the day of the New Hampshire primary, Tuesday, Yang was in sixth place polling at 3.7% in Real Clear Politics' average of Democratic primary polls, with a low chance of receiving any pledged delegates, later born out in the results.
Two Yang campaign staffers told Insider that they saw virtually no chance of Yang placing in the top four candidates in New Hampshire, with one describing the recent layoffs and the fundraising email as national leadership "bracing staff for an eventual reason to drop out."
Read more:
'Fear and chaos': Andrew Yang staffers are furious over sudden layoffs and a campaign near collapse
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