From coronavirus mayhem, some unexpected political stars have emerged

A few short weeks ago, Andrew Yang was a political pariah. Today, his policies are being appropriated by the White House, writes Holly Baxter

YangWasRight began trending on Twitter after the former presidential candidate’s financial policy was taken up by the Trump administration (Reuters)

A few short weeks ago, Andrew Yang dropped out of the presidential race after accepting that the numbers didn’t add up. He’d always said that politicians should be held to account based on the data supporting their policies, rather than rhetoric; his signature merchandise had “MATH” written across it (declaration of bias: I own one of the T-shirts). He had to hold himself to account today, he told disappointed supporters, and accept that the results from the first handful of caucuses and primaries meant he had no realistic prospect of becoming the president in November. His fans didn’t hide their devastation. One middle-aged man cried as he explained to a reporter that this was the first time he’d ever felt like a politician had really spoken to him.

Yang’s main policy was the so-called Freedom Dividend; in other words, a universal basic income (UBI). It was a pie-in-the-sky idea, most of his political peers said. Where exactly would $1,000 a month (the exact amount Yang proposed) for each American citizen come from? No possible scenario would knock out enough of the US economy that it would be necessary, anyway.