Andrew Yang, 2020 candidate, ends MSNBC boycott after more than a month

Andrew Yang said Friday he was granting an interview to MSNBC, reversing course after recently boycotting the network over its coverage of his Democratic presidential campaign.

Mr. Yang said through his Twitter account that he would be interviewed remotely later Friday by the host of MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes,” effectively ending a boycott initiated by the White House hopeful more than a month earlier.

“I decided that I’d prefer to speak to as many Americans as possible - our message is too important,” Mr. Yang tweeted.

A press secretary for Mr. Yang’s campaign confirmed to The Washington Times that the interview will mark the candidate’s first on the cable network in more than a month.

Mr. Yang, a 44-year-old businessman, previously said that he was refusing to appear on MSNBC until the network apologized for its coverage of his campaign.

“They’ve omitted me from their graphics 12+ times, called me John Yang on air, and given me a fraction of the speaking time over 2 debates despite my polling higher than other candidates on stage. At some point you have to call it,” Mr. Yang tweeted Nov. 23. “The whole time we have gotten stronger. This is actually bad for MSNBC. It will only get worse after I make the next debates and keep rising in the polls. The people are smarter than MSNBC would like to think.”

More than a month later, Mr. Yang tweeted that he would try to “get our message out to as many people as possible and shock the world in 38 days,” referring to the start of the Iowa caucuses, the Democratic Party’s first major nominating contest of the 2020 presidential election.

MSNBC spokespeople did not immediately return a message requesting comment on Mr. Yang’s decision to end his boycott by sitting for an interview with the network.

Nationwide polling among Democrats has consistently placed Mr. Yang among the top 10 candidates seeking the party’s nomination to compete in 2020 against President Trump, and he recently beat out several established politicians and fellow Democratic candidates — including Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, among others — to compete in the latest televised primary debate.