President Donald Trump’s choice to avoid addressing rising Democratic candidate Andrew Yang — who recently broke into the top five in a new nationwide poll, per The Inquisitr — has pushed his followers to spread the “TrumpFearsYang” hashtag across social media regularly. Although Trump has yet to address Yang, the closest he appears to have come is in response to journalist and political commentator Kassy Dillon, who referenced Yang on Twitter.

“Here’s the thing: I’m voting for Trump but I wouldn’t be friends with Trump. I’m not voting for Yang but I’d definitely be his friend,” she tweeted.

“I’m OK with that!” Trump responded.

The encounter once again sparked the “TrumpFearsYang” hashtag from Yang supporters and caused some to speculate that the surprisingly tame interaction was a sign that Trump indeed sees Yang’s campaign as a threat.

“So Trump actually does fear Andrew Yang and the crossover appeal that would dampen Trump supporter turnout. Interesting,” said Eugene Gu, President and CEO of Ganogen.

Yang also responded to Trump’s tweet to add fuel to the fire.

“Someone is hearing footsteps. #TrumpFearsYang.”

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Gu said that both Yang and Trump are similar in that they have harnessed social media and modern internet media to achieve power outside of the mainstream media complex — which has been hostile to both. He highlighted that Americans are growing weary of career politicians and the “same rehearsed lines” that they use.

“It’s going to be very hard for Trump to attack Yang effectively like he can with others,” he said.

Gu’s statements echo comments Yang made during a recent interview with WBUR’s On Point about Trump’s failure to address his campaign. The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur highlighted Trump’s past comment about his only fear being a “new figure” that “comes out of nowhere” and suggests that he that figure.

“The only thing he’s worried about is that some new figure comes out of nowhere, and I’m that figure. He runs most effectively against people that are part of the D.C. establishment, and I am not.”

Per The Inquisitr, Yang used his third Democratic debate performance to reveal that he will be giving 10 families $1,000 per month for one year, which is what he plans to do for all Americans over the age of 18 with his signature proposal — a universal basic income (UBI), or “Freedom Dividend.”

RealClearPolitics reports that Yang is currently in sixth place with 3 percent support. He still has a long way to go to break into the top ranks of candidates but has had an impressive run thus far going from a political unknown to performing ahead of career politicians in the Democratic primary.