Mike Bloomberg's campaign team unleashed a bizarre tweet-storm on Tuesday night as they tried to draw attention away from the Democratic debate after he was left off the stage.

Over the course of four hours, the billionaire's staff conducted polls on eagles, 'revealed' plans to sing his inaugural address with Lady Gaga, and photoshopped his face on to a meatball.

The tweets were met with a mixture of bemusement and derision by social media users, who branded the 77-year-old 'out of touch' and 'embarrassing'.

Mike Bloomberg's campaign attempted to draw attention away from the Democrat debate on Tuesday night after he was left off the stage by posting a series of bizarre tweets

Over the course of four hours, the Mike2020 feed posted 43 tweets ranging from a poll on eagles to spurious 'facts' about the billionaire

While the initial meatball tweet got several thousand likes, the others got only a few hundred each and dozens of retweets

The night began uneventfully, with the Mike2020 feed tweeting: 'We promised to tweet stuff. We promised fun stuff. We promised the best stuff. Here we go.'

'Mike’s not in tonight’s CCN Dem Debate,' his staff added, 'but, to get to know him better, here are some interesting facts about Mike.'

That was followed by a few actual facts - his place of birth and alma mater - before a message that said: 'Test your political knowledge: SPOT THE MEATBALL THAT LOOKS LIKE MIKE.'

Underneath was a stock image of a plate of meatballs with Bloomberg's face photoshopped over the top of one of them.

The team then sent out a barrage of 43 tweets that included tidbits such as: 'Mike’s house is designed to look exactly like the interior of the Millennium Falcon.'

Another said: 'Mike has eaten clams casino for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for the past 30 years.'

Bloomberg, a billionaire with a successful media empire, was left off the stage in Iowa on Tuesday night because he is not competing there after a late entry into the race

A third read: 'Podium order was determined by a corn dog eating contest at the Iowa State Fair.'

Aside from the initial meatball tweet, which received almost 4,000 likes, the other tweets got just a few hundred likes each and a few dozen retweets.

Bloomberg himself interjected a couple of times, tweeting 'should I be worried about this?' and 'I see everyone at campaign HQ is hard at work.'

After dozens of tweets, Bloomberg - who owns a media empire - attempted to restore normalcy by himself tweeting a video of Trump's rally in Wisconsin, writing 'this is not a joke'.

But the criticism kept coming, including from his supporters.

In response to his tweet, California for Bloomberg wrote: 'Why did your team do this to you? You were rising in the polls and earning respect for your strategy. Then they put your face on a meatball. FIRE THEM.'

The night started ordinarily enough, with the Twitter feed promising interesting facts about Bloomberg - before descending into the surreal

On the stage in Iowa, which goes to the polls in a first-in-the-nation primary next month, candidates largely avoided headline-grabbing stunts in favor of a discussion about policy.

The biggest moment of the night came after the microphones were turned off, when Elizabeth Warren went to speak with Bernie Sanders amid a rift between the two.

Bernie went for a handshake but Warren rebuffed it, before what appeared to be an animated conversation between the two progressives.

Tom Steyer, who was stood by watching, pleaded ignorance when asked what had been said - telling CNN 'I really wasn't listening.'

After four hours of non-stop tweeting, Bloomberg responded from his personal feed and attempted to restore normalcy by writing that Trump 'is not a joke'

The tweets were met with a mixture of bemusement and derision by users, including some Bloomberg supporters who urged him to fire his social media team

'They were talking about getting together or something. I really didn't listen,' he added.

'It was one of those awkward moments where I felt like, you know, I need to move on as fast as possible. You could see it was an awkward moment.'

Senior Bernie adviser Jeff Weaver also pleaded ignorance when asked about what had happened.

Fireworks had been expected between the two senators after an increasingly bitter feud erupted ahead of Tuesday night's debate.

Instead, the pair calmly addressed the report - with Sanders denying it and Warren using it to attack the electoral record of the men on stage.

Tuesday's debate was the last one before voters head to the polls.

There are three more debates on the calendar – ahead of the New Hampshire primary, the Nevada primary and the South Carolina contest.