Andrew Yang accused of 'Michael Scott levels of cringe and insensitivity' at forum with LGBTQ group

It sounds like a recent attempt by Andrew Yang to secure an endorsement in his New York City mayoral bid didn't exactly go as planned.

The candidate on Wednesday met with the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City to seek the Democratic LGBTQ organization's endorsement, but he ended up offending its members, The New York Times reports. Yang, according to the report, "cited gay members of his staff as apparent evidence of his openness to the club's concerns, and expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of visiting" the New York gay bar Cubbyhole.

But Yang neglected to focus on "substantive issues that our membership cares about" and "came off poorly," the club's president, Rose Christ, told the Times. One member, Harris Doran, took issue with the fact that Yang "kept calling us 'your community,' like we were aliens," while the Times also cites an online chat that accompanied the forum in which one person wrote, "Gay, gay, gay. Wow. More to us than just that."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Christ also told Politico that Yang "came across like he was a tourist in New York," and member Alejandra Caraballo drew a particularly brutal TV comparison.

"When I see a candidate come in just with Michael Scott levels of cringe and insensitivity, it either tells me Andrew Yang is in over his head or is not listening to his staff," Caraballo told the Times. "Those are both radioactive flashing signs that say he is not prepared to be mayor of New York."

Yang campaign manager Sasha Neha Ahuja told the Times that "I hope Andrew continues to have space for folks to listen with an open heart about the experiences of all communities that have been deeply impacted by years of oppression," while adding that "I apologize if folks felt some type of way about it."