Bill de Blasio says politicians and live animals are an “insane” combo, opening up about a snafu he suffered while handling a groundhog when he was New York City’s mayor.
The former Democratic mayor detailed what led to an infamous photo-op gone wrong, when in 2014 he dropped the squirming creature during a Groundhog Day event in Staten Island.
The groundhog reportedly died a few days after the incident, although the Staten Island Zoo said at the time that it “appeared unlikely” that the free fall contributed to its death.
“I go there and it’s seven in the morning, which means my motor skills are not at their best. I put on these gloves, and they’re like, ‘Here’s a groundhog,’” de Blasio said in an interview with New York Magazine published Wednesday.
“I’m like, ‘Don’t make me hold a f---ing groundhog.’ I mean, what the hell?” he recalled.
“I’m like, ‘What the f---?’ I’m like, ‘Don’t you have a little more coaching to go with this or whatever?’” the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate told the publication.
“It was idiocy,” he continued.
“Why would you want an elected official to hold a groundhog? I don’t know anything about holding groundhogs. So the whole thing is just insane.”
“There’s an original sin here. Don’t hand someone a groundhog, right?” said de Blasio, who served as mayor from 2014 to 2022.
“Only trained groundhog holders,” and not political figures, should be on critter duty, according to de Blasio.
“And do you squeeze it really tight? I mean, what do you do?” he said.
“So I’m like, talk about a lack of advance work.”
