Entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang gave his assessment of current polling between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump amid their bids for re-election this November.
Yang said if the election were held today, Biden would lose to Trump, in a Wednesday statement to Fox News Digital.
The former presidential candidate said he has had conversations with voters in South Carolina who have questioned if Biden could lose to Trump in a 2020 rematch this November.
"I would say, not only could he lose to Trump, but if the election were held today, he would lose to Trump and the poll numbers are generally getting worse, not better,” Yang said.
Yang said half of the people he spoke with believed Biden's chances at re-election were slim.
"I happen to agree with that half," Yang said, turning his criticism toward the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
"The most extreme thing the DNC has done to stifle democracy is canceling the primaries in Florida and North Carolina and attempting to do so in another state or two," Yang said of the committee. "I mean, it’s ridiculous to talk about championing democracy on one hand and then literally canceling primaries on the other."
Yang said Democrats would engage in debates if they wanted to "practice democracy."
"That would involve having genuine competitive primaries," he continued. "That would involve giving the people a choice."
Yang noted the primary would be "competitive" if other progressive Democratic leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker or Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, were given the green light to seek higher office.
"Then you would have a genuine field, as opposed to this coronation that, in my view, threatens to lead us directly back to a Trump presidency," he said.
The former presidential candidate suggested the aforementioned Democratic leaders were "positioning themselves" for a 2028 presidential run.
"That’s what’s leading a lot of people getting out of Joe's way," he added. "It's one reason why I admire Dean Phillips so much for doing what he thinks is right for the country even though there were many people in the party who told him not to."
Dean Phillips, a Minnesota representative, is challenging the incumbent Biden in the Democratic presidential primary. Phillips is joined by political pundit and host of The Young Turks Cenk Uygur, along with author Marianne Williamson, who previously sought the democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
