Entrepreneur Yang promises to stay in Dem race 'the entire way' as Americans have 'lost confidence' in politicians

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Andrew Yang previews second round of Democratic presidential debates

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang joins Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday.'

Entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang says the reason why he is polling ahead of some of the bigger names in the 2020 primary race is that politicians have shown they are “behind the curve” when it comes to solving problems, while he has a vision for the future.

Yang accused Washington of lagging, particularly when it comes to the economy, and that the country needs someone who can address issues like automation -- which he believes will dramatically alter the economic landscape.

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“America, unfortunately, has lost confidence in its politicians,” Yang told “Fox News Sunday.” It’s one reason why I’m doing so well, I’m beating many sitting senators and governors. The American people realize that our government is way behind the curve in solving the real problems.”

A recent Fox News poll had Yang ahead of Senators Cory Booker, D-N.J., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., former Colorado Gov. John Hickelnlooper, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas. Yang says that support will keep him in the race for the long haul, well beyond the upcoming debate in Detroit.

“I’m not going to just have next week in Detroit, but I’m going to have also September in Houston, and on and on and on. My campaign is going to be here the entire way,” he said. Yang predicted that he will “keep on climbing the polls” as Americans see more of him.

Host Chris Wallace asked Yang about his strategy for the upcoming debate. In the first debate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., drew attention by attacking former Vice President Joe Biden’s record of opposing busing as a means of integrating schools. Yang, however, indicated he has no intention of utilizing that strategy.

“My focus is on solving the problems of the American people,” he said. “I don’t think we benefit if I’m throwing rocks at other candidates when, quite frankly, I agree with them on many, many issues,” he said.

In fact, Yang recently appeared to poke fun at the concept of Democrats taking each other down. He jokingly tweeted on Friday that he was planning on going after Bennet.

As for his platform, Yang’s approach toward solving economic problems includes a plan for a universal income, which would give Americans ages 18 years and older $1,000 every month, regardless of economic status. He plans to help fund this with a value-added tax (VAT).

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Yang’s concern is that a growing trend in automation will result in severe job loss across America, and the universal income would help alleviate some of that burden.

"If we give the American people a sliver of every Amazon transaction, every Google search, every Facebbok ad, every robot truck mile, we can generate hundreds of billions in new revenue," Yang said.

When asked if his plan includes retraining people who lose jobs to automation so they can perform other jobs, Yang said that while investing in retraining people is important, the government has shown that it is “terrible at retraining.” Instead, he hopes that the universal income will “take the pressure off” and help people “transition in a better direction.”