The Michael Bloomberg campaign dance video mocking Pete Buttigieg was created by a comedy sketch group

Grace Panetta

December 13, 2019 10:40 PM

On Thursday, members of a Los Angeles comedy group fooled much of Twitter with a video showing a group of purported Michael Bloomberg supporters doing an awkward dance routine to Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger."

Democratic Presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gestures while taking part in an on-stage conversation with former California Gov. Jerry Brown at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019, in San Francisco. Bloomberg made his first visit to California as a Democratic presidential candidate, appearing earlier with the mayor of Stockton who's championed universal basic income. Bloomberg and Brown talked about America's Pledge, bringing together leaders to ensure the U.S. remains a global leader in reducing emissions and delivering the goals of the Paris Agreement. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

The UCB's prank video was a play on Mayor Pete Buttigieg's campaign signature dance to Panic! At the Disco's song "High Hopes," which has been widely mocked across the Internet.
Nick Ciarelli, whose Twitter bio identified him as a "communications intern" for Bloomberg's 2020 campaign, posted the video captioned as a "Mike Bloomberg rally in Beverly Hills."
In reality, Ciarelli is a member of the Los Angeles Upright Citizens Brigade, a comedy sketch group, and the whole video was an elaborate prank.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

On Thursday night, members of a Los Angeles comedy group fooled much of Twitter with a video showing a group of purported Michael Bloomberg supporters doing an awkward dance routine to Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger."

Nick Ciarelli, whose Twitter bio identified him as a "communications intern" for Bloomberg's 2020 campaign, posted the video captioned as a "Mike Bloomberg rally in Beverly Hill."

Bloomberg, a 77-year-old billionaire who entered the 2020 race this November and is self-funding his own campaign, has been widely criticized as out-of-touch and met with skepticism from much of the Democratic primary electorate.

Within hours, the video spread across the internet, gaining over 2 million views and over 8,000 retweets by the next day.

But a quick scan of Ciarelli's Twitter feed showed that he is a member of the comedy group Upright Citizens Brigade of Los Angeles and certainly not a Bloomberg supporter, posting several tweets in support of the United Kingdom's left-wing Labour party. BuzzFeed News spoke with Desus & Mero writer Ziwe Fumudoh, who confirmed that the video was filmed Thursday night at Ciarelli's monthly comedy show at Upright Citizens Brigade of Los Angeles theater.

The Bloomberg campaign seemed to play along with the joke, tweeting that Ciarelli "does not have moves like Bloomberg."

The UCB's prank video was a play on Mayor Pete Buttigieg's campaign signature dance to Panic! At the Disco's song "High Hopes," which has been widely mocked across the internet.

Buttigieg's campaign dance has become a popular target of mockery on the video app TikTok.