Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has been inching toward a 2020 announcement for weeks. But, if his intent was to make it official on his Twitter page Thursday, he failed miserably. Instead, with a series of bizarre tweets about alligators, he confounded his followers. He first posted a photo of a crab sitting on top of an albino alligator, which resulted in several quizzical responses. It wasn't until you clicked on the image that you could read the names Donald Trump and Terry McAuliffe. Trump was the alligator, McAuliffe was the crab.
— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) April 11, 2019
As social media users tried to decipher what the photo could possibly mean, McAuliffe's team published a subsequent image which offered a few more hints as to what he might be driving at.
If I could wrestle an 8 ft, 280 lb ??, I certainly would have no problem with you know who. pic.twitter.com/WOxiJT4P5z
— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) April 11, 2019
Sooo, does that mean you're running?
Okay, admittedly, we did find some context for the photos. Back in 1980, while raising money for Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign, the Seminole tribe in Florida offered $15,000 to McAuliffe. On one condition: He had to wrestle an alligator, which was considered an ancient tribal custom. He agreed to the challenge and won.
McAuliffe recently bragged about the feat at a construction trade union event.
"Of all the candidates running, how many have actually wrestled a 280-pound, 8-foot alligator for a political contribution for $15,000?” McAuliffe said. “How many? I’m your man, folks. Nobody else can do it. If I can wrestle an alligator, I can sure as hell wrestle Donald Trump, boy, and that would be worth it. And you’d pay money to watch that debate!”
McAuliffe was governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018.