Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is about to face his first test in the 2020 Democratic primary, appearing on the ballot for the first time in California, where he’ll go head-to-head against the remaining Democratic presidential candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
But he may also be about to contend with a communicable disease.
In an effort to humanize the candidate, Bloomberg’s social media team posted a SnapChat of the mega-billionaire communing with volunteers at a campaign office in Virginia, and it left viewers less impressed with Bloomberg’s ability to blend in with the “common man” and more concerned for his lack of hygiene.
In the video, posted by “AG William Barr” (a parody account), Bloomberg is seen touching community pizza, ripping off part of a slice, eating it, then licking his fingers and, finally, wiping his wet hand on a paper coffee carafe.
WATCH:
👇JUST WOW👇
Mini Mike is an absolute SLOB.
Watch him AWKWARDLY rip a slice of pizza, place it back into the community pizza box, lick his fingers, then put his hands on the box of coffee! pic.twitter.com/zIQP9T6qah
— AG William Barr (@AGWilliamBarr) March 3, 2020
It appears he may have put his bitten piece of pizza back into the box, but it’s impossible to be sure without a similar video taken from a different angle.
The video is captioned, “when in doubt, rip the crust off.”
Bloomberg has a slate of weird food habits. He puts salt on his pizza (he also eats it with a fork, but so does the current president). In fact, he puts salt on everything, even saltine crackers. He puts ice in beer. He also has a very strange social media strategy, which involves comedy Tweets that someone — perhaps just Mike Bloomberg — thinks are hilarious.
This time around, though, Bloomberg seems to be directly flouting his campaign’s own advice, particularly when it comes to curbing the spread of the notorious coronavirus.
“With coronavirus spreading, there are a few things we can all do to stay safe,” Bloomberg tweeted earlier this week. “Wash your hands frequently. If you have a cough, stay home & rest. Avoid touching eyes, nose & mouth. Cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing.”
He also claims he’d be the most competent Democratic candidate to handle a true pandemic.
“I was mayor of NYC during hurricanes, terrorist plots and disease outbreaks. I know what it takes to make it through hard times because I always had a plan,” he said on social media last week. “The coronavirus is no different. We need to prepare and we need to let the experts do their jobs.”
Coronavirus aside, Bloomberg is poised to do well on Super Tuesday. He’s expected to take around 10% of the vote in both Utah and Arkansas — two states where moderate Republicans make up a large bloc — and is likely to pick up at least a few delegates across New England and in American Samoa (he’s actually running second there, and slated to take around 20% of the v0te). Bloomberg’s Super Tuesday outlook, the polling experts at FiveThirtyEight say, is actually better than Elizabeth Warren’s.
More than likely, it will not be enough to catch up to either of the front-runners, Sanders and Biden.