Dave Chappelle Endorses 2020 Presidential Candidate Before Iowa Caucuses: They Have 'Great Ideas'

On Tuesday, 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang received strong words of support from Dave Chappelle. The famous comedian spoke out about his support of the entrepreneur ahead of the Iowa caucus, which takes place on Feb. 3. However, this was an unusual move for the "Chappelle's Show" star as the Democratic hopeful is the first presidential candidate that he has ever endorsed.

Before the performer's show at Stephens Auditorium in Ames, Iowa, the "Sticks & Stones" star revealed why he decided to speak out about Yang.

According to the Des Moines Register, the Netflix star said that the candidate's universal basic income proposal, which he calls the "freedom dividend," was a driving factor behind his decision to publicly endorse someone for the 2020 election. As stated by Chappelle, such an income would help people afford groceries and give them the ability to pay their bills. Additionally, he discussed how such a move could work towards eliminating the wealth gap.

"The wealth disparity between me and my neighbors is immense," said the star, who lives near Dayton, Ohio. "It's heartbreaking. And if you know a third of the people up the street can't buy groceries, then you start to feel an imperative concern. It's not the kind of thing I could just see and hope for the best, I should probably say something," he added.

Furthermore, Chappelle discussed President Donald Trump and the differences that exist between the former star of "The Apprentice" and the Yang Gang leader.

“I don’t look at Trump supporters as my enemy at all. I understand why people voted for Trump. I understand people are desperate. And I think that Andrew is right, you run against the reasons that Trump got elected," he said. The clip can be seen below.

However, other celebrities have recently spoken out about their own choice of candidate to face off against Donald Trump in November, including Judge Judy and Michael Douglas.

Chapelle also shared that he believed saying what he believes in is his "civic duty."

"This is without irony or a punchline, I'm just telling you - this guy's got some great ideas, you should check it out," he stated.