From ‘Trump train’ to ‘Yang Gang’: the conservatives and swing voters who now back Andrew Yang
- Andrew Yang considered a favourite among voters who haven’t yet decided whether they’re voting Republican or Democrat
- Common trait among the right-of-centre Yang supporters was a resentment over being labelled racist because of political leanings.
They’re lifelong conservatives from North Carolina. They voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but never voted in a presidential primary. Now they’re hard core Andrew Yang supporters, and have uprooted their lives to support his 2020 presidential campaign.
Elasa and Russell Peterson – aged 34 and 44, respectively – discovered Yang via Joe Rogan’s podcast and were immediately drawn to Yang’s “humanity first” and “not left, not right, forward” messaging.
“Most of us don’t want to fight with each other. Most of us don’t want to blame each other for all of our problems,” Russell, told Business Insider after a Yang campaign event in Concord, New Hampshire, this month.
Before long, they had quit their jobs and hit the campaign trail with their four-year-old son. While on the road, they launched the “GrassRoots #YangGang” YouTube channel, where they live-stream nearly every Yang campaign event and provide regular commentary throughout the day to more than 10,000 subscribers.
While they’ve switched their party registration to Democratic, Russell insisted their only choice is Yang.