We’ve officially reached the point where Barack Obama is fair game for 2020 Democrat hopefuls.

In a clear attempt to try to win over centrists who are likely leaning towards President Donald Trump for 2020, Andrew Yang sent an Obama shot across the bow in a recent interview with The Hill over the former president’s weak progress on the economy.

“I think the biggest missed opportunity was in the wake of the financial crisis, where we printed $4 trillion for the Wall Street banks,” Yang said. “And there was a massive opportunity to help restructure our economy in ways that worked for the average American to a higher degree. That, to me, was the biggest missed opportunity.”

The entrepreneur and presidential hopeful said he thinks the federal government could have worked harder to forgive mortgages and debt following the 2008 financial crisis. He argued that the priority should have been keeping Americans in their homes.

Despite having pretty serious disagreements with Obama’s handling of the financial crisis, Yang says he doesn’t hold it against the president or his administration.

“I don’t begrudge any one decision you make in a crisis, because the fact is, the economy was at a precipice, and people just did what they thought was right to pull us back from the edge,” he said. “But I think there was a missed opportunity there. And I think, in many ways, we’re still recovering.”

Yang’s Hill interview seemed specifically designed to make a pitch to voters in the middle as he also claimed that his favorite president is a Republican.

“I’m a big Teddy Roosevelt fan because he seemed very bipartisan and solutions-oriented,” Yang revealed.

He added, “Breaking news, Andrew Yang is a Roosevelt [fan].”

Yang also revealed he has a strange and direct connection to Roosevelt.

“I’m actually his great-granddaughter’s godfather, so I feel, like, an affinity in that way,” he said.

In his wide-ranging interview Yang also tackled the border crisis. He argued more needs to be done to secure the United States’ southern border, he also said that those arguing that Democrats are for “open borders” are pushing a “mischaracterization.”

“I think it’s mischaracterizing the position of just about every Democrat to say that someone is open borders,” the businessman said.

He continued, “I know I am very cognizant of the fact that we need to have more resources in place to secure our borders and enforce our rules as they’re written … The open borders attack to me is simply a mischaracterization, certainly of the point of view of most Democrats, I’ve heard them express.”

Though Yang has had incredible success in business and he’s managed several viral moments during his presidential campaign, he has yet to make much of a splash in the polls. With things like universal basic income central to his platform, Yang is an odd candidate. He stands out from the crowd, but he’s unlikely to be any sort of real contender for the Democrat Party nomination.

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Zachary Leeman

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Zachary Leeman is originally from Maine, he served in the United States Army Reserve for six years. He currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

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