Mike Bloomberg has deleted controversial tweets that sarcastically praised dictators in an attempt to damage his rival Democratic presidential candidate senator Bernie Sanders after garnering intense backlash online.

The misleading tweets were initially shared in an attempt to start an online campaign using the hashtag #BernieOnDespots.

Earlier the campaign team posted a real video of Sanders defending the Castro administration of Cuba, encouraging followers to imagine what the Vermont senator would say about other regimes and dictators.

Mike Bloomberg’s tweets. Photograph: The Guardian

Pretending to be Sanders, the account joked about the North Korea leader, Kim Jong-un, questioning any right to critique the dictator “for starving millions of his own people”, despite also opening a fictitious “waterpark with over ten slides, a lazy river and a wave machine”.

“What a blast,” the since-deleted tweet from Bloomberg read.



Another tweet seemingly dismissed the willingness of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to “poison anyone who disagrees with him” by focusing on the world leader’s physical appearance, noting “have you seen how that guy looks without a shirt”. Critics have called the tweet homophobic.

The campaign also sent tweets pretending to be Sanders about the former Ugandan despot Idi Amin, and the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

On Twitter, some users pointed out, without verbal cues, it was difficult for most followers to discern that the latest hashtag was a joke, not actual quotes from Sanders. The Bloomberg campaign ultimately clarified with a follow-up tweet that “all of these are satire”.

The tweets were then later deleted.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg also faced criticism for a video he tweeted that was misleadingly edited following the Democratic debate in Nevada. As a result, Twitter announced a new policy against misleading content that would flag videos as doctored clips.

The latest features will not go into effect until 5 March.

Doctored videos, tweets with invented quotes, exaggerated claims of persecution.



Yet another example of how the corporate Democratic establishment projects. Bloomberg is doing exactly what his spokespeople would protest if Sanders did any of this. Unbelievable. https://t.co/yD14uAT87Z — Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) February 25, 2020

Backlash over the tweets has also called into question Bloomberg’s massive spending on his campaign, which opponents have characterized as an effort to buy the 2020 US presidential election. Sanders’ lead as the frontrunner continues to widen as the democratic socialist makes headway in South Carolina.

Bloomberg has spent nearly $500m on advertising and staffing since he launched his campaign and previously said he was willing to spend up to $1bn on his run for president.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment on whether the #BernieOnDespots tweets also violated its policies on misinformation.