Don Lemon: Democrats don't do a good job of speaking to working class people. What do you say to that? You are supposed to be fixing that. Andrew Yang: I had that experience countless times on the trail Don. Where I would say 'Hey I'm running for President' to a truck driver, retail worker, a waitress in a diner. And they would say 'What party?' and I would say Democrat. And they would flinch like I had said something really negative or like I had turned another color or something like that. And there is something deeply wrong when working class Americans have that response to a major party that theoretically is supposed to be fighting for them. So you have to ask yourself what has the Democratic party been standing for in their minds. And in their minds the Democratic party unfortunately has taken on this role of the coastal, urban elites who are more concerned about policing various cultural issues than improving their way of life that has been declining for years. And so, if you're in that situation, this to me is a fundamental problem for the Democratic party, because if they don't figure this out then this polarization and division will get worse not better. Don Lemon: Is that real, or messaging, or both? Andrew Yang: It's real. I mean Debbie just said they just lost a plant that had 1500 workers. And so if you are a laid off worker from that plant and you look up and say 'What is the Democratic party doing for me?', it's unclear. And we can talk about a unifying message from Joe Biden, he's a naturally very unifying figure, but then there's the reality on the ground where their way of life has been disintegrating for years, and if we don't address that then you're going to see a continued acceleration toward the institutional mistrust that animated the Trump vote and will continue to do so.
Technology companies tend to operate in winner-take-all spaces and thus adopt a very high-commitment culture. That is, if there are 10 or 100 mapping apps or social networks, the one company left standing is worth billions, and the rest are worth a very small fraction of that (probably only what people will pay for the talent on hand). As a result, the organizations are ultra-efficient and expect long hours and constant availability. It’s either win or lose big for a lot of companies, and there’s not much in-between.
Don Lemon: Democrats don't do a good job of speaking to working class people. What do you say to that? You are supposed to be fixing that.
Andrew Yang: I had that experience countless times on the trail Don. Where I would say 'Hey I'm running for President' to a truck driver, retail worker, a waitress in a diner. And they would say 'What party?' and I would say Democrat. And they would flinch like I had said something really negative or like I had turned another color or something like that. And there is something deeply wrong when working class Americans have that response to a major party that theoretically is supposed to be fighting for them. So you have to ask yourself what has the Democratic party been standing for in their minds. And in their minds the Democratic party unfortunately has taken on this role of the coastal, urban elites who are more concerned about policing various cultural issues than improving their way of life that has been declining for years. And so, if you're in that situation, this to me is a fundamental problem for the Democratic party, because if they don't figure this out then this polarization and division will get worse not better.
Don Lemon: Is that real, or messaging, or both?
Andrew Yang: It's real. I mean Debbie just said they just lost a plant that had 1500 workers. And so if you are a laid off worker from that plant and you look up and say 'What is the Democratic party doing for me?', it's unclear. And we can talk about a unifying message from Joe Biden, he's a naturally very unifying figure, but then there's the reality on the ground where their way of life has been disintegrating for years, and if we don't address that then you're going to see a continued acceleration toward the institutional mistrust that animated the Trump vote and will continue to do so.