Yang Gang rages against MSNBC, accusing network of repeatedly suppressing candidate

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang are furious over MSNBC's treatment of the 2020 contender, and are accusing the network of repeatedly snubbing Yang while granting favor to lower-polling rivals.

What are the details?

On Thursday, the hashtag "MSNBCFearsYang" began trending on Twitter as Yang supporters (and observers) raged over the fact that he was granted the least amount of speaking time in the primary debate the night before.

Yang himself reportedly lashed out at the network while dropping by a watch party following his performance, telling the crowd, "It felt great. But then it felt like when the hell are they going to f---ing call on me? The hypocrisy of MSNBC in a way just makes us stronger."

Midway through the debate, in fact, Yang tweeted out an account of each candidate's speaking time up to that point with the message, "Just going to leave this here." 

But Yang's paltry speaking time during the fifth debate was a breaking point for the so-called Yang Gang, who have protested for months over media outlets repeatedly omitting the candidate from graphics even where he was out-polling rivals who received more coverage.

Fox News pointed to a Yang supporter who keeps a running public compilation of instances where Yang was left out of graphics, and counted 15 times where he was snubbed "between MSNBC, NBC News and NBC digital platforms" alone. The outlet further noted that "CNN had five instances as well."

Anything else?

Days before the debate, MSNBC issued an apology for its most recent instance of leaving Yang off a graphic that included candidates polling lower, saying the omission was an inadvertent mistake. 

Earlier on UP, we aired a poll graphic that inadvertently left off @AndrewYang. This was a mistake that we've since corrected on air. We apologize to Mr. Yang. Here's the correct graphic: pic.twitter.com/SDoqsxdiiD

— Up on MSNBC (@UPonMSNBC) November 17, 2019

Yang campaign manager Zach Graumann responded, "Thank you @MSNBC for making this apology for the 15th time. The #YangGang is very excited for #16." 

Thank you @MSNBC for making this apology for the 15th time. The #YangGang is very excited for #16. https://t.co/l17c49Z8TP

— Zach Graumann🧢 (@Zach_Graumann) November 18, 2019