• Andrew Yang has just endorsed David McKinley, a Republican Representative from West Virginia.
• McKinley was among the 13 Republicans who backed the infrastructure bill and voted for the Jan 6 commission.
• Trump endorsed Alex Mooney (a WV congressman running against McKinley) after WV lost an electoral district.

Andrew Yang tweeted Tuesday, pledging support for Republican Rep. David McKinley from West Virginia

Former New York City mayoral candidate, and presidential candidate, has left the Democratic Party to form the Forward Party. This new issue-oriented group is described by him as a solution for polarization in America and the two-party "duopoly".

Yang posted on Twitter that McKinley is a West Virginia Republican congressman who supported cash relief as well as the infrastructure bill. He is now running against a Trump-endorsed candidate. "I support David and I hope you will, too.

--Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) November 23, 2021

A spokeswoman from the Forward Party confirmed to Insider that Yang personally endorsed the congressman when Insider reached her.

Laura Del Savio (the senior communications strategist for the Forward party) stated that "The Forward party has yet not endorsed any candidates."

McKinley is running against Alex Mooney, a fellow Republican incumbent who has been in the House since 2011. West Virginia lost one district due to the 2020 census. An earlier endorsement by Donald Trump for Mooney was made by McKinley, who cited his votes against the bipartisan infrastructure bill as well as the bipartisan January 6 Commission.

Two days prior, Trump named McKinley one of many "RINOs and sellouts" that he would support primary challengers against.

--Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) November 15, 2021

McKinley was, however, one of the 13 House Republicans who backed the infrastructure bill and one of 35 Republicans who voted for a January 6 commission. The Senate Republicans killed the bill, resulting in the creation of the select committee.

Yang pointed out in his tweet that Yang voted for bills to send stimulus checks to Americans during COVID-19.

McKinley stated that America's infrastructure is in desperate need of modernization, and that the bipartisan infrastructure bill was what community leaders from each panhandle have said West Virginia must do to repair its aging infrastructure. He voted in favor of the bill, which President Joe Biden signed into Law last week.

Right-leaning politicians have tried to penalize the 13 Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted the phone numbers of the 13 Republicans on Twitter. This triggered a flood of threats while Mark Meadows, former Chief of Staff to President Obama, said that they should be stripped from their committee assignments.

Yang has focused his efforts on polarization after his failed NYC mayoral campaign. He also wants to break the dangerous incentives that he calls the two-party system.

Yang said in his new book that "the dysfunction is going to destroy us" and explained why he was creating a third party. Worse, it's impossible to believe that this will change. Both sides will find themselves trapped in a conflict that neither side wins. They will still be in one of the most wealthy areas in the country, but the people will lose.

He also wrote that "Our leaders are not rewarded for solving problems, but for accruing resources and maintaining office."

Insider asked McKinley and Yang for comments on this article.