Dave Chappelle endorses Andrew Yang

Comedian Dave Chappelle, already officially part of the Yang Gang, has endorsed for Andrew Yang for the Democratic contender for the White House. Chappelle joins Donald Glover (Yang’s creative consultant), director James Gunn, titan of tech industry Elon Musk, magician Penn Jillette, actor Ken Jeong, author and philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers, and others on the celeb roster for Yang’s ascendency.

Chappelle will be headlining shows in South Carolina at the end of January in support of the candidate. Yang and Chappelle have been talking since Chappelle reached out to Yang to find out more about his campaign.

Speaking to New England Cable News, Yang spoke about this new collaboration. “Dave’s team reached out to our team, and they were thrilled to put the two of us together,” Yang said. “We sat down and talked about his concerns for the country and what we need to do to for the next generation. Dave’s a dad like I am. And then after we met, he said, ‘Look, I want to help, and what can I do to help?’”

Glover launched a pop-up store in Los Angeles in support of Yang’s campaign, selling $1,00 signed sweatshirts, featuring both his and Yang’s signatures.

Yang has been shut out of tonight’s Iowa debate, and many political insiders have been dubious about his campaign, and unwilling to take him seriously. But his grass-roots following brings large crowds of supporters, and the last quarter filled his campaign coffers with $16.5 million. While Kamala Harris, Corey Booker, Marianne Williamson, and Julian Castro made recent departures from the Democratic race, Yang shows no signs of giving up.

While Yang’s funding is on target for inclusion in the 7th Democratic debate, he did not meet the polling numbers necessary to step onto the stage. His campaign complained that there weren’t enough polls conducted during the time in question, and held a rally the night before the debate. A clear indication of his success is that Yang’s talking points are making their way into the broader Democratic discourse, and celebs like Chappelle are stepping up to spread the word.