WWE Critic Andrew Yang Announces Run For New York City Mayor

Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has announced his run for mayor of New York City.

Yang will join dozens of other contenders for the upcoming mayoral election, which will see current NYC mayor Bill De Blasio be replaced as he has reached him term-limit in office.

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In his announcement video, Yang said that his motivation to run for New York City mayor is familial, but extends beyond his bloodline.

"I'm running for mayor for my two boys, for you, and for every New Yorker," Yang said. "Let's fight for a future New York City that we can all be proud of."

Yang's mayoral campaign comes months after his public criticisms of WWE's third party edict, which Wrestling Inc. exclusively reported on.

"This would be infuriating to me if I had spent time building up my social media channels only to have WWE take them over from their 'independent contractors.' People are angry and rightfully so," Yang said in a tweet responding to Wrestling Inc.'s exclusive report.

While that edict was initially reported on in September, the fallout from it trickled down in the subsequent months. Following Zelina Vega's noteworthy firing in November, Yang noted that he "[hadn't] forgotten about Vince McMahon."

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Yang's latest political endeavor comes after he toyed with the idea of joining Joe Biden's cabinet as Secretary of Labor, a role that would've positioned him to take on WWE's "misclassification" of their talent head-on. Yang spoke to Wrestling Inc. last September to criticize WWE's business practices.

"Wrestlers are afraid to speak out, and I've had wrestlers past and present reach out to me and say that Vince [McMahon] has been getting away with exploitation of wrestlers calling them independent contractors while controlling their activities for years and years," Yang said. "A lot of it is just that they are a quasi-monopoly, and wrestlers fear that if they do try and unionize or organize in any way that Vince doesn't like, that it will never work again."

Jelo G. Santos contributed to this article.

Jelo G. Cantos contributed to this article.

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