With no prior political experience and low public recognition, Yang was widely considered a longshot candidate by the media during the early stages of his campaign.

In April 2018, Yang released The War on Normal People, a book discussing job displacement, automation, and universal basic income (UBI), which were central to his campaign.

Yang proposed a version of the Green New Deal that would have reduced dependence on fossil fuels through policies such as a carbon tax and support for nuclear power.

[7] In 2011, Yang founded Venture for America (VFA), a nonprofit organization that encourages entrepreneurship by matching recent college graduates with startups in various cities across the United States.

[19] On April 3, 2018, Yang released The War on Normal People, a book discussing technological change, automation, job displacement, the economy, and the need for a UBI.

[20] In a press release on April 19, 2018, he announced that he would be personally giving one resident of New Hampshire $1,000 per month in 2019 to show the effectiveness of his UBI policy, the "Freedom Dividend".

He said that his supporters had gathered three times the required signatures, but "because of a bureaucratic paperwork issue caused by an awkwardly-worded law, nearly 3,000 Ohioans' First Amendment rights have been denied.

While saying he understood the frustration of Bernie Sanders supporters, he referred to Biden as the "prohibitive nominee" and stated that defeating Trump was the most important goal.

[58] On March 11, 2019, Yang announced on Twitter that he surpassed the fundraising threshold of 65,000 donors, which qualified him to participate in the first round of Democratic primary debates.

[59] On June 28, Yang announced that he reached 130,000 donors,[60][non-primary source needed] which met the fundraising criterion for the third round of Democratic primary debates.

[78][79][80] Media outlets noted that much of the content circulated through these platforms, such as memes, GIFs, podcasts, and Twitter tweets, were instrumental to Yang's campaign.

[84] However, The American Conservative stated that the Yang Gang was largely satirical, with most of the members posting to social media doing so as a critique of corporate communications attempting to be relatable and in touch with younger audiences.

[90] CNN's Chris Cillizza attributed Yang's lack of coverage to his political inexperience, his "different" policies, and comparisons to Ron Paul, not intentional malice by the media.

It stated that Yang was insensitive toward race and gender while discussing issues of racism and sexism, and also mentioned examples of his social awkwardness, such as him pressuring employees to participate at company karaokes.

[116][117] During the debate, Yang answered questions on topics including civil rights, health care, immigration, party strategy, climate, and the economy.

[130] During the debate, he addressed topics including health care, immigration, foreign relations, the War on Terror, corporate lobbying, and education and charter schools.

[154] On Twitter, Glenn Greenwald said: "Yang's answer about the actual threats of the 21st century was way too smart, thoughtful and substantive for cable news and presidential political generally.

[156] Chris Churchill of Times Union wrote: "The other candidates blabbered on about millionaires and billionaires or the bad man in the White House while Yang, bless his heart, repeatedly turned the focus to families and children.

[162] Dylan Scott of Vox praised Yang's performance, saying that he "nailed his answer on being the only nonwhite candidate on stage" and that he "made a short and eloquent case" for the Freedom Dividend.

Yang's signature policy was the "Freedom Dividend", a $1,000-per-month universal basic income (UBI) to all US citizens age 18 or older, regardless of employment status.

[13] On the topic of whether the dividend should have included the wealthiest citizens, Yang stated that it should have been universalized "so it's seen as a true right of citizenship, instead of a transfer from rich to poor".

[143][182][183] At a 2019 conference organized by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, economist and Harvard professor Greg Mankiw said of the Freedom Dividend: I am attracted to something along the lines of the policy now being championed by Andrew Yang ...

[188] Economics professor Melissa Kearney opined that UBI would not significantly reduce inequality, and that she has found "no compelling evidence that ... giving people money will generally lead to any appreciable increase in work or successful business creation".

[199] On August 26, 2019, Yang released his climate change plan, which involved nuclear power, zero-emission transportation, geoengineering, a carbon tax, and a renewable electric grid.

Yang called the evidence for circumcision being medically beneficial "shaky" and suggested that as president, he would support giving new parents more information about this decision.

[210] Yang supported creating two new Cabinet positions, with one being responsible for cybersecurity while the other would have emphasized the "attention economy" and focused on regulating the addictive nature of social media.

[216] Yang advocated for gun companies to "pay a fine when their product is used to kill an American" in order to realign incentives to deal with the problem of arms manufacturers' stocks going up after mass shootings.

He also "criticized several school districts across the country which use theatrical recreations including firing blank rounds at students and using fake blood to imitate a real mass shooting".

Yang also called for a "reset of the relationship with Saudi Arabia" due to the country's actions in Yemen and its role in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.

Yang condemned the 2018 Venezuelan presidential election as "marred by fraud, intimidation, and voter suppression" and expressed a desire for Nicolás Maduro to step down as president.