DNC Rejects Yang From September Debates Over Poll Criteria

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) rejected today the latest poll presented by 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang to qualify for the September democratic debates.

The rejection came after Yang tweeted Monday that he was the eighth candidate to receive a position on the crowded democratic debate floor this fall.

Shortly after Yang learned he didn’t qualify for the debate, his campaign manager, Zach Graumann, sent out an email to supporters, saying, “The political establishment is stacking the deck against us,” according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Candidates are required to submit four polls in which they receive at least 2% of public support in order to qualify for the September debates. This would have been Yang’s fourth and final poll. Two of the former tech executive’s July polls, an NBC/Wall Street Journal one and an NBC/SurveyMonkey poll, however, were both sponsored by NBC.

“Candidates may only count one NBC-sponsored national poll released during the current qualification period,” DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill wrote to the Yang campaign in an email according to the Hill.

The DNC wants candidates to show momentum within his or her campaign in order to qualify. While 2% may not sound hard to attain, the majority of nominees still vying for a debate spot are struggling to break 1%.

Nominees must also receive support from 130,000 unique donors in 20 different states, which Yang has already met.

Now, only seven democratic presidential hopefuls have locked down a spot on the September stage. This includes former Vice President Joe Biden, Vt. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Calif. Sen. Kamala Harris, N. J. Sen. Cory Booker, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

The Hill, which reported yesterday that Yang qualified for the third and fourth democratic debates, recently published an article with corrections. Several other news outlets reported that Yang had qualified for the next debates, including the Political Wire and NPR.

Yang Tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he no longer met the criteria for the fall debate.

The third Presidential Democrat debate will be held on September 12th and 13th at Texas Southern University in Houston.