Michael Bloomberg’s latest campaign video has him getting the “endorsement” of several dogs — even if he likes shaking them by the snout.
The former New York City mayor and 2020 presidential hopeful released a 30-second video on Wednesday in which a number of pooches “express” their “approval” of him, via some helpful voice-over actors.
“Mike’s not afraid of the NRA,” one puppy “says.” “Not one bit.”
Earlier this week, a video of the billionaire awkwardly interacting with a dog went viral.
In that video, Bloomberg can be seen greeting some folks during a campaign stop in Vermont. He pets a dog, then shakes a couple of people’s hands, then grabs the dog’s face for a moment, as though it were also a person’s hand. The dog, which wags its tail throughout the whole encounter, doesn’t seem distressed by it.
Bloomberg apparently greeted another dog the same way at a 2013 event in New York, according to a photo taken at the time.
Wednesday’s campaign video amassed more than 200,000 views within a few hours. The former mayor himself tweeted it out with the hashtag #DogsFurMike, writing: “Dog people get me. Dogs too.”
At the end of the video, Bloomberg’s own dog Cody “approves” the message, and we see a photo of Bloomberg petting a dog’s head the normal, human way. In 2011, The New York Times reported that the then-mayor had a somewhat distant relationship with his girlfriend’s Labradors, Bonnie and Clyde, which he permitted to live with him but refused to care for.
Bloomberg’s campaign team did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the ad.
As of press time, dogs were still unable to vote.
