Voters Left Laughing At Mayor De Blasio After Video Problem Makes 2020 Candidate Sound Like 'Chipmunk'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Call it helium-gate.
As if Bill de Blasio needed more challenges in his longshot bid for president, a video call with potential voters in Iowa drew laughter from the crowd for all the wrong reasons.
De Blasio's video presentation to the Iowa Federation of Labor suffered a technical snafu that left New York City's mayor sounding quite high-pitched.
As one reporter tweeted, Iowans couldn't keep from laughing as the mayor's video battled "helium-related" problems.
Mayor Bill De Blasio battling some (helium-related?) technical difficulties as he tries to video call into the Iowa Federation of Labor forum today. I'll just leave this here. pic.twitter.com/7G0BUznYI9
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) August 21, 2019
Event organizers in the key swing state apologized for the high-pitched glitch and promised to replay the corrected video after 2020 Democratic front-runner Joe Biden spoke at the convention.
"Following the next candidate's speech, we will play that video. We've managed to fix it," organizers said, via The Hill.
"You all deserve to hear the mayor speak in his own voice."
Not ideal: Bill de Blasio is addressing the @IowaAFLCIO convention via video and the sound is distorted pic.twitter.com/jR1MoJZOWa
— Thomas Kaplan (@thomaskaplan) August 21, 2019
De Blasio took his "new" voice in stride, tweeting about the campaign mishap Wednesday afternoon.
The mayor said he'd do whatever it took to spread his message, including trying out his "best chipmunk impression."
If a high-pitched voice is what it takes to spread a message about putting working people first, pass the mic and I'll try my best chipmunk impression while talking about how we achieved universal pre-K, a $15 minimum wage and a #GreenNewDeal for New York City. ???? https://t.co/Ad5QH4goqH
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 21, 2019
De Blasio vowed to stay on the campaign trail despite his almost nonexistent poll numbers, so the mayor will need all the help he can get.
MORE: De Blasio Plans To Stay In Presidential Race Despite Almost Nonexistent Numbers
In recent polls, he's been hovering around zero, earning an asterisk in the latest CNN poll.
"You see a bunch of candidates there, but there is not, in the end, I think a sense among Democratic voters that they're secure in where they want to go. The vast majority of Democratic voters are gonna make their decision late," de Blasio said.
Perhaps a new chipmunk offensive can help quickly raise his numbers he'll need to qualify for the next Democratic presidential debate in September.