Michael Bloomberg campaign posts surreal tweets as counterprogramming to Democratic debate

While six Democratic candidates were debating, Michael Bloomberg was trolling. 

The campaign Twitter account for Bloomberg — who did not qualify for Tuesday night's debate — posted dozens of humorous, sometimes surreal tweets as a form of counterprogramming.

"We promised to tweet stuff. We promised fun stuff. We promised the best stuff. Here we go," the Team Bloomberg account tweeted before the debate began.

As the other candidates sparred onstage in Des Moines, Iowa, the Bloomberg account posted memes, jokes and a series of comical "#BloombergFacts," often poking fun at the candidate himself. For example: "Mike can telepathically communicate with dolphins.

The billionaire businessman and former New York City mayor is self-funding his campaign, which prevents him from reaching the donor threshold to qualify for the debates. Bloomberg told CBS News in December that he believes the debates don't "really matter" and the public is not focused on them.

Tuesday's debate is the last Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses, but Bloomberg's strategy is to overlook the early races in Iowa and New Hampshire and focus on the delegate-rich contests in later states.

In:
• Democratic Debate
• Iowa
• Michael Bloomberg
• Democratic Party