Andrew Yang's 2020 crowds feature a mix of Trump and Sanders supporters

Andrew Yang is rejecting the norm in every way possible.

The tech entrepreneur entered the 2020 race as a total longshot, largely attracting people to his rallies and speeches out of pure curiosity. But now he's the only non-politician to have made the third Democratic debate stage, and has somehow united fans of both Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and President Trump under one roof, The New York Times reports.

Ben Longchamp, a New Hampshire college student who's been following Yang since May, described the candidate's initial appeal perfectly to the Times: "He was a meme — his campaign was a joke." After all, Yang was promising a $1,000 monthly stipend for every American. And he still is — his supporters just don't find it absurd anymore. Instead, they've embraced him as a "smart, substantive and affable political outsider" who's focused on the everyday problem of making ends meet, the Times writes.

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And Yang's support isn't just coming from the Democratic party he's running under. At events in New Hampshire, some of Yang's backers said they were former Sanders supporters who saw Yang as "a newer, fresher champion of progressive causes," per the Times. Others were libertarians who liked Yang's plan to "give people money and then get out of the way," the Times continues. Still others were fans of Trump, even currently — though many had traded MAGA hats for MATH ones. That's "Make America Think Harder," by the way.

Read more about Yang's surprising rise at The New York Times.