Andrew Yang says he's talked with third-party No Labels, sidesteps questions about presidential bid

Andrew Yang, a former Democratic presidential candidate, has spoken with the centrist third-party group No Labels, but he dodged a question about whether the organization asked him about running as a potential presidential candidate. 

"I’ve had conversations with various folks who are associated with No Labels," Yang told Politico on Monday.

Yang, who left the Democratic Party in October 2021, was repeatedly asked whether No Labels approached him about a White House bid, but responded: "We have a lot of friends and people in common."

Democrats have expressed concerns that No Labels could take votes away from President Joe Biden in 2024, resulting in a win for former President Donald Trump.

"I would not run for president, if I thought that my running would be counterproductive, or if it would increase the chances of someone like Donald Trump becoming president again," Yang also said. 

Yang also called the idea of a rematch between Trump and Biden "terribly unrepresentative and borderline ridiculous" due to their ages. 

"I mean, you’re talking about two guys whose combined age is 160," Yang said, as the two men will be 159 years old combined on 2024 Election Day. "In a country of 330 million people, you would choose these two gentlemen at this stage? I mean, it makes zero sense."

Biden, who is the oldest president in U.S. history at the age of 80, has faced increasing questions about his mental and cognitive abilities while polling shows that even members of his own party are questioning his fitness. 

No Labels has been looking to potentially provide an alternative presidential candidate in 2024. The group's chairman, former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent in 2006, said No Labels will not run a candidate in 2024 if it will help elect a Republican or a Democrat.

In addition to Yang, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has been rumored to be a potential candidate for No Labels.

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