Yang Gang

About

Yang Gang is a nickname collectively referring to supporters of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Online, Yang Gang memes referencing the candidate's proposed Universal Basic Income (UBI) policy, which would grant all American adults $1,000 per month, are frequently posted within various meme communities online, including the /pol/ board on 4chan.

Origin

The exact origin of the nickname "Yang Gang" used in the context of Andrew Yang supporters is unknown. On November 6th, 2017, entrepreneur Andrew Yang launched his campaign to run for president of the United States in the 2020 election. On February 2nd, 2018, the Yang campaign released a video titled "Andrew Yang for President | Humanity First" (shown below).

On March 20th, Twitter user @Wordview^[7] tweeted an endorsement of Yang directed at "#BernieBros" along with the hashtag #YangGang (shown below).

Spread

On March 30th, 2018, the campaign video was submitted to 4chan's /pol/^[2] board along with the hashtag "#yanggang." On August 9th, the "Andrew Yang for President 2020" Facebook^[5] page posted a photoshop featuring "Yang Gang" placards promoting the campaign (shown below).

On February 28th, 2019, a "Yang Gang General" thread was submitted to 4chan's /pol/^[3] board, containing videos of Yang's appearances on podcasts hosted by Joe Rogan and Sam Harris. On March 6th, a "Yang Gang General" thread was submitted to /pol/^[4] along with a Virgin vs. Chad meme comparing Andrew Yang to Donald Trump (shown below).

That day, an anonymous user submitted a thread^[1] speculating that "Yang Gang" posts submitted to the /pol/ board were part of an orchestrated astroturfing campaign conducted by the AndrewYang2020 Discord server (shown below). Also in March 2019, the @YangGangArchive^[8] Twitter feed was launched, which highlights pro-Yang internet memes.

Yang Campaign Merchandise

The official Yang4Pres^[6] campaign website sells clothing printed with the words "Yang Gang" (shown below).

Search Interest

External References