Bloomberg responds to poor debate performance with a cringey doctored video where he looks good

Pretty much everyone who isn't on Mike Bloomberg's sizable payroll agreed the billionaire got shellacked — walloped, thumped, pounded — in Wednesday evening's Democratic debate. Immediately.

The former NYC mayor pivoted into damage control on Thursday morning. As a part of the effort, his campaign posted video of the debate that was obviously doctored to make it seem like Bloomberg stumped his opponents.

In the video, Bloomberg asks his opponents, "I'm the only one here that's ever started a business, is that fair?" That part was real.

But from there the video shifts. Cricket noises fill the background noise as Bloomberg's opponents don't say anything. Fake mouth noises and paper shuffling sounds accompany blank faces. These clips (obviously) were pulled from other parts of the evening and edited together along with added sounds to make it seem like Bloomberg's comments stumped the other candidates.

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The video from Bloomberg borrows from the Trumpian universe, where strange, sometimes comedic edits of his opponents are common. The president himself this morning retweeted a post where Bloomberg was shrunken to the point where he could hardly see over the top of a lectern.

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The video is just the latest odd online effort from the billionaire Democratic candidate. Bloomberg has made a steady, expensive push online — with seriously mixed results. His polling numbers have risen over time, but after his performance on Wednesday, it remains to see if that surge will last.