The joys of being ‘the Asian Oprah’ — and other outtakes from Andrew Yang’s visit to The State

When entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang recently visited The State, there was so much tasty material from his interview that it couldn’t all fit in one Opinion page editorial.

So here are four more notable takeaways from Yang’s visit:

1. Yang is confident that his much-discussed Freedom Dividend proposal — which calls for providing every American adult with a universal basic income of $12,000 a year through monthly $1,000 payments — will increasingly resonate with voters as they begin paying more attention to the primary race.

“We all know that after I win the presidency, it’s going to be because of the Freedom Dividend,” Yang said.

And that’s why Yang is convinced that once he does win the presidency, he will have little trouble getting the Freedom Dividend enacted into law by Congress during the first 100 days of his administration.

“The Democrats will just be so excited to have beaten (Republican President) Donald Trump,” Yang said, while “Republicans and conservatives don’t hate putting money in the hands” of average Americans.

“Cash,” Yang said, ”is a very hard thing to demonize.”

2. Yang is banking on attracting Trump voters by focusing on their ongoing economic concerns.

Yang said that he’s “ideally suited to beat Trump in 2020” because of his focus on “rewriting the rules” of an American economy that keeps stripping retail and manufacturing jobs away from working-class Americans.

“We’re in the midst of the greatest economic transformation in our country’s history,” Yang said, “and in my view that was the driving force behind Donald Trump winning the election in 2016..”

Added Yang: “And who’s going to win from my Freedom Dividend? It’s primarily going to be people in rural areas in red states who have gotten blasted by automation.”

3. Yang is clearly having fun running for president — so even if he’s not the Democratic nominee, his “happy warrior” persona will make him a prominent figure during the general election campaign.

You can tell how much fun someone is having in their job by how willing they are to laugh at themselves while doing that job — and by that standard, it’s obvious that Yang is having a ball seeking the job of president.

Would another 2020 presidential candidate literally dash around a newsroom before starting an interview — as Yang did before his session at The State?

Nope.

And no other 2020 presidential candidate would likely brag about being teased by a late-night talk host — as Yang did in noting how his Freedom Dividend proposal recently prompted comic Trevor Noah to call him “the Asian Oprah.”

“It’s not accurate,” Yang joked. “Oprah is much cooler than I am.”

If Yang doesn’t get the Democratic nomination, his ability to deliver mocking anti-Trump barbs with a smile — during his visit at The State, Yang actually chuckled while calling Trump “a marketing charlatan” — should make him a popular campaign surrogate for the party’s eventual nominee.

4. Yang is a fan of journalism and journalists, and a Yang administration wouldn’t vilify the media or war with the press.

Yang said that “democracy suffers” when the media is under threat, and added that if he wins the presidency, he would pursue a number of proposals aimed at protecting local journalism.

“If you believe in democracy,” Yang said, “you have to believe in journalism.”