“I’m Yang Gang,” Chappelle declared in a press release from the Yang campaign, tagging himself with the informal nickname for people who support the candidate.
“Dave is one of the most important voices in our country today and I’m thrilled he has thrown his support behind this campaign,” said Yang, who has previously described himself as a “huge Dave Chappelle fan.”
Chappelle has won multiple Emmy and Grammy awards for his stand-up comedy specials, and he was awarded the prestigious Mark Twain Award for American Humor in 2019. He lives in his hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio with his wife Elaine and their three children.
“He and I share similar concerns about the future and hopes for what it could be,” said Yang. “We are also parents who see the world that we are leaving to our kids and believe they deserve better.”
Yang has received a considerable amount of support from celebrities prior to Chappelle. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, actors Ken Jeong and Steven Yeun as well as actor and musician Donald Glover are some of the notable names to have thrown their weight behind Yang.
Two live performances by Chappelle benefitting the Yang campaign were also revealed to be taking place on January 29 and 30 in South Carolina, although the shows had been in the works for some time.
“Dave’s team reached out to our team and they were thrilled to put the two of us together,” said Yang in a Friday interview with NECN. “We sat down and talked about his concerns for the country and what we need to do to for the next generation. Dave’s a dad like I am. And then after we met, he said, ‘Look, I want to help, and what can I do to help?’ And of course, on our side we’re like, ‘We’d be thrilled to have your help, Dave.’”
The announcement was made just before the seventh Democratic primary debate was set to take place in Iowa. It potentially provides a needed boost to Yang’s campaign, who did not qualify to participate in the debate, failing to reach the required polling threshold of 5 percent in four separate national polls. He qualified for and participated in the previous six debates.
Yang had earlier requested that the DNC commission additional polls before the debate, believing they would result in his qualification for the debate. The request was rejected on the basis that it would violate a longstanding tradition by both parties to use independent polling for debate qualification. The hashtag #AmericaNeedsYang trended after Yang supporters registered their discontent as the debate began on Tuesday.
Supporters have been highly critical of what they believe has been unfair media coverage for Yang. In the debates he has taken part in, Yang’s speaking time has been notably lower than other candidates. Supporters also say Yang’s name has been mentioned by the media far less often than other candidates with similar polling numbers and has been handled poorly when it has been mentioned. On the January 6 edition of CNBC show Squawk Alley, a graphic displayed a picture of businessman Geoff Yang in place of the candidate.
Primary voting season kicks off with the Iowa caucus on February 3. Yang hopes to qualify for the next debate, in New Hampshire on February 7.
