For billionaire Tom Steyer, South Carolina is his last stand.
The hedge-fund mogul doesn’t have much of a chance there, either, to break into the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. But he at least appears on some of the polls in the state. He’s hovering between 12% and 16% on several of the most recent surveys, trailing former vice president Joe Biden, who’s in the 30s and 40s, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who’s in the 20s and 30s.
So, for Steyer, it was time to take out the big guns, show the people what he’s really got. But the way in which he decided to do that raised quite a few eyebrows.
During a campaign event on the eve of South Carolina’s primary vote, Steyer joined rapper Juvenile on stage. Steyer, wearing a tartan tie and with his sleeves rolled up, boogied down as Juvenile played his 1999 hit “Back that Azz Up.” Steyer dropped down, bounced that booty and shook his hips as Juvenile sang, “Back dat thing up.”
Take a look below.
You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/2eV97qFgUw
— Jim Newell (@jim_newell) February 29, 2020
“His wife, Kat Taylor, joined him on stage as a back-up dancer and got down too while holding her smartphone,” Fox News reported. “The incredible spectacle that caught fire on social media took place at Allen University, a historically black university, Friday night.”
So tonight I saw Tom Steyer hop on stage and dance with Juvenile like a Hot Boy. To say 2020 politics is wild is an understatement. pic.twitter.com/v43OuFi8Ci
— Chaunte'l Powell (@chauntelpowell) February 29, 2020
The event was marred with technical problems, the Daily Mail reported.
Originally, the special audio treat for Steyer supporters didn’t go exactly as planned. Juvenile was supposed to play a set before Steyer’s speech, but the performer balked at the sound quality.
‘Come on sound man, you’re getting worse by the second,’ the rapper complained. ‘I think the sound man went to the bar!’ Juvenile then disappeared offstage, with gospel crooner Yolanda Adams soon taking his place.
He promised he would come back when the audio problem got fixed.
Steyer also splashed some cash. Attendees at the event were treated to a full appetizer spread, complete with mashed potato bar, The Mail reported. Much of the crowd stayed around for three hours to see Juvenile, who gave Steyer his official endorsement when he was surrounded by reporters backstage. “He’s been representing my people from day one,” the rapper told The Mail.
For his part, Steyer mocked his own dancing. “What I found in South Carolina is not just talent, — Not just my dancing,” he joked.
It wasn’t the first time a Democratic candidate put on display some terrible dancing skills. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, once the front runner for the nomination, boogied on stage back in August, and it wasn’t pretty.
In her first campaign event in Minnesota, she shook her groove thing to Aretha Franklin’s classic “Respect.” “It seemed like at first Warren wanted to stick to her signature over-exasperated double-hand wave, but then she realized a woman of the people would have to give the people a few moves to the beat. There were some fist pumps, what appeared to be a half-slide, a little bit of throwing hands in the air. It’s the perfect awkward-mom moment we all know and love,” Mediaite reported.
You can watch her dance here.
But even better, her dance drew comparisons to Elaine from “Seinfeld,” a notoriously bad dancer.
UPDATE: Steyer dropped out of the race after coming in a distant third place in the South Carolina primary on Saturday.