A Minneapolis City Council member has given one of her opponents something to chew over — a piece of chewed gum.
Twenty-year incumbent Lisa Goodman took the gum out of her mouth and handed it to challenger Teqen Zea-Aida before the start of a candidate forum Tuesday.
Goodman asked Zea-Aida: ‘Would you take my gum, please?’
Recounting the incident, Zea-Aida told the Minneapolis Star Tribune: ‘I just looked at her and said, “What do you want me to do with that?”‘ He did take the gum.
At a Tuesday forum for candidates vying for the council member position in the 7th Ward of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a bizarre interaction occurred between the 20-year incumbent Lisa Goodman and one of her three challengers, Teqen Zea-Aida
Goodman gave Zea-Aida the wad of gum that she had been chewing in her mouth. After some confusion, she took the gum back. Pictured also is another challenger, Joseph Kovacs, observing the interaction. Also in the running is Janne Flisrand
Zea-Aida wrote about the interaction: ‘She is a master of nasty politics for sure! I now know what she is capable of first hand, and why she must go. I will not be fooled again. We will not be fooled.’ Goodman claimed that Zea-Aida had ‘misunderstood’ what she said
Goodman tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune she couldn’t find any paper to get rid of her gum and was just making a lighthearted comment.
Zea-Aida wondered if Goodman was hinting he had bad breath and thought she was offering him gum.
He wrote on Facebook: ‘So, friends I could have been stronger than a solid B performance at tonight’s Ward 7 Affordable Housing Forum put on by Make Homes Happen MPLS.
‘I couldn’t think of what got me ever so slightly off my game until Wedge LIVE asked me if it was true that [City Council member] Goodman took gum out of her mouth and put it in my hand.
‘Its true. She did. Right before we started she asked if I would take her gum. Me, thinking I had unkind breath said yes.
‘She literally took gum out of her mouth and put it in my hand to which I (totally shocked) asked, what am I supposed to do with this? And then the questions started.
‘She is a master of nasty politics for sure! I now know what she is capable of first hand, and why she must go. I will not be fooled again. We will not be fooled.’
Game of Thrones: Goodman has been the 7th Ward’s council member for 20 years and has three challengers this year, including Zea-Aida
He also tweeted: ‘When @cmlisagoodman asked if I’d take her gum I thought she meant I had bad breath! #fellforit #evilgenius #gameswithlisa’
Seeming to reference the event, he wrote later: ‘The amount of support I have received during this controversial moment has been heartwarming. I thank you and I hope to gain your vote.’
Zea-Aida took to Facebook and Twitter (pictured) to voice his concerns about what transpired
Goodman says the Zea-Aida ‘looked at me like I was crazy,’ and she took the gum back out of his hand.
She claims that Zea-Aida ‘misunderstood’ what she had said.
The council member says it was ‘a simple attempt at humor’ and apologized.
Zea-Aida later told that Star Tribune that he accepted the apology.
The interaction has gone viral and many Tweeters are taking to the social media platform to voice their opinions about it
Twitter reactions have both made light of and made serious the interaction.
Some have dubbed the incident ‘gumghazi,’ a play on the Benghazi military controversy that plagued Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy.
Goodman has been a council member for 20 years and faces Zea-Aida, Janne Flisrand and Joe Kovacs in the fight for the Seventh Ward council seat.
*This story was first broken by Wedge LIVE, also known as the Wedge Times Picayune.