Andrew Yang reportedly lays off 'dozens' of staffers after Iowa caucus flop

Andrew Yang reportedly cut down his campaign staff, and it didn't go too smoothly.

"Dozens" of staffers working for the entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate were laid off after Yang earned just a small percentage of the reported votes in Monday's Iowa caucus, four fired staffers tell Politico. Those laid off employees say dismissals weren't expected until after the New Hampshire primaries, but Yang's campaign is insisting this was the plan all along.

Yang's national political director and their deputy, as well as Yang's policy director, were all laid off, with those affected spanning from Yang's New York headquarters to Iowa. This was all part of the campaign's "original plans following the Iowa caucuses," campaign manager Zach Graumann said in a statement to Politico, calling it "a natural evolution of the campaign."

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Yet those fired staffers disagree, saying many of them expected to stay onboard until after New Hampshire, and that they found out the news in a disorderly way. "Some people were shut out of their email, before getting an official phone call" that let them know they were laid off, one of the former staffers said.

All of the released staffers reportedly received at least a month's severance, and one former staffer was sure to say they didn't "want to paint this situation over him or the campaign in any negative way." Read more at Politico.