VIDEO: Andrew Yang faces criticism after laughing off man's misogynistic remarks
WARNING: The video above contains explicit content.
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – New York City mayoral frontrunner Andrew Yang was doing damage control after a video posted Thursday showed him laughing off a man's crude and misogynistic comments, including a reference to assault against women.
Fellow mayoral candidate Maya Wiley was among the people questioning Yang's judgement after the video posted to Twitter caught him in a conversation with a man who was talking about sex and referring to women as "b****es." At one point the man asks, "Do you choke b****es, Andrew Yang?"
Yang defended himself on Thursday after the video surfaced, saying he was trying to be friendly with a man who wanted to make a video. The candidate said he was caught by surprise.
"He said something that was plainly inappropriate, that I didn't find funny at all, and so I walked away," Yang said. "Again, you're in a posture where you're trying to be friendly to someone, and then you're shocked and surprised it goes in that direction."
Wiley responded to the video Thursday, saying, "We have to understand how serious these references were."
"(Yang) heard enough to answer the question. He understood that he was being asked something that seriously suggested that he had to talk about consent," Wiley said.
State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi and several progressive female Assembly members released a statement, saying in part, "We couldn't believe our eyes or ears. When Andrew Yang was asked by supporters about violently assaulting women, he responded by laughing. But this isn't a laughing matter, and it isn't just 'locker room talk.' Language like this perpetuates real violence against women."
