Dave Chappelle To Perform Two South Carolina Shows In Support Of Andrew Yang’s Campaign

Ted Johnson

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Dave Chappelle will headline two shows for Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign on Jan. 29 and 30 in South Carolina, and he officially endorsed the candidate on Tuesday.

“I’m Yang Gang!” Chappelle said.

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Yang made the announcement of Chappelle’s concerts at a town hall in Ames, Iowa on Tuesday.

“I am super indebted to Dave,” Yang said. “I can’t wait to help make this case to the country, that we can do better for ourselves and our kids than we are doing right now.”

In a statement released later by the campaign, Yang said that he and Chappelle “share similar concerns about the future and hopes for what it could be. We are also parents who see the world that we are leaving to our kids and believe they deserve better.”

Other showbiz figures who are backing Yang include Donald Glover, who joined the campaign last month as a creative consultant. Yang also has been endorsed by Ken Jeong and Steven Yeun.

The Jan. 29 event will be held at Township Auditorium in Columbia, SC, and the Jan. 30 concert will take place at North Charleston Performing Arts Center in North Charleston, SC.

With just weeks until voting begins in the Democratic primary, campaigns are dispatching entertainers to early states. On Monday, Mandy Moore appeared with Pete Buttigieg at a town hall in Ames, and plans to attend the Democratic debate on Tuesday.In a fundraising email sent by the campaign, Moore said that Buttigieg is “a total original. And that’s honestly what I think we need right now. Because this isn’t a TV show or movie. It’s our reality. And the reality is that our country is in crisis.”

Like Buttigieg, Yang was a virtual unknown before the presidential campaign started. He’s gained some traction as a dark horse candidate focused on issues like the need to address automation and for a universal basic income. He raised $16.5 million in the fourth quarter, outpacing a number of traditional candidates. But he did not qualify for the debate on Tuesday, the first time he has been shut out of the 2020 events. The Des Moines debate is sponsored by CNN and the Des Moines Register.

Instead, Yang held a series of events in Iowa on Monday and Tuesday, including a town hall event at Drake University in Des Moines.

 

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