The Debate Winner on Twitter? Andrew Yang
Did his $120,000 sweepstakes win him new votes?
2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang gained more new Twitter followers than any other candidate over the course of Thursday’s third Democratic primary debate in Houston, Texas.
Yang came in first place for the largest new Twitter following with about 7,600 new followers while fellow candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren came in second with about 4,400, Politico reporter Dan Diamond tweeted.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg came in a close third, followed by Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, California Sen. Kamala Harris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Yang gained about 0.93% of his total following before Thursday’s debate in new followers.
How that breaks out as relative growth:@AndrewYang: +0.93%@PeteButtigieg: +0.30%@JulianCastro: +0.28%@BetoORourke: +0.21%@amyklobuchar: +0.14%@ewarren: +0.14%@KamalaHarris: +0.07%@CoryBooker: +0.04%@JoeBiden: +0.03%@BernieSanders: +0.02%
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) September 13, 2019
One reason Yang may have caught the attention of such a large online audience is through his $120,000 debate-night giveaway. The New York entrepreneur announced 10 giveaways $12,000 giveaways during Thursday night’s third Democratic primary debate in Houston, Texas.
“My campaign will now give a freedom dividend of $1,000 a month for an entire year to 10 American families — someone watching this at home right now,” Yang said during his opening debate statement. “If you believe that you can solve your own problems better than any politician, go to Yang2020.com and tell us how $1,000 a month will help you do just that.”
“This is how we will get our country working for us again, the American people,” he added.
The announcement highlighted the candidate’s universal basic income (UBI) policy called “the Freedom Dividend,” which is possibly his most popular idea and would give every U.S. citizen over the age of 18 a monthly allowance of $1,000, or yearly allowance of $12,000.
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Image: Reuters.