09/15/2023 07:15 AM EDT
Andrew Yang has left behind is personal political aspirations in favor of his new Forward Party, a political party he hopes makes waves across the U.S. | Emily Ngo/POLITICO
Andrew Yang said he’s not running for president again.
“By the numbers, if I were to run, I would probably increase the chances of Trump winning,” he told Playbook. “And so I’m not going to do that.”
Yang, who lost his bids for mayor in 2021 and president in 2020, is still very obviously a data wonk, but he now wears a “FWD” lapel pin where his “MATH” one used to be.
He founded the Forward Party, a centrist alternative, after leaving the Democratic Party. It’s his new political home.
And Manhattan remains his literal home.
Playbook caught up with him in Hell’s Kitchen, where he discussed, with an iced matcha latte in hand, how he’s been traveling to advocate for a “genuinely representative, multiparty system” and promoting his new political thriller, “The Last Election.”
He seeks, with the Forward Party, to change the national political landscape.
Nudged to talk about challenges more locally, in the city he once sought to govern, Yang bit.
“I don’t think Mayor Adams’ recent rhetoric on immigrants was helpful at all,” Yang said. “I mean, you have a situation that warrants national attention, but then, being sensationalist in your language about it isn’t going to house or feed anyone.”
It was a reference to the mayor’s comment that the crisis will “destroy” the city.
Yang pitched a solution for more efficient spending. Math again factored in.
He took Adams’ $12 billion estimate for the cost of the crisis and divided it by 100,000 migrants.
“So, by my math, that’s $120,000 a head,” Yang said, noting the “cost structure” is higher in New York City. “So, if you were to go to the rest of the country and say, Hey, guys, if you want to help with the migrants, we will send you $30,000, there may be communities and organizations that see that, and say, Wow, that’s something that we can help with.”
But Yang said he hasn’t spoken to the mayor.
And like so many others in the city, Yang concluded that what would help it most is federal funding.
HAPPY FRIDAY and HAPPY ROSH HASHANAH. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading! Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.