Former White House ethics czar and aspiring senator from Minnesota, Richard Painter, is appearing in a new promo that has some asking if he's actually ... a robot.
The unusual promo is advertising his appearance on a Minnesota podcast hosted by Benjamin Kruse called "Up and At 'Em," where Painter is appearing today.
In the video, Painter appears almost completely frozen, eventually just moving rigidly at the joints.
The bizarre behavior had many online speculating he might not actually be human:
A YouTube user even created a channel called "Robot Alien Richard Painter," featuring some of Painter's more hyperbolic clips. The frequent MSNBC guest is known for regularly accusing President Trump of "treason."
The Washington Free Beacon explained the provenance of the promo:
The former Republican-ethics-lawyer-turned-Democratic-Senate-hopeful appeared in a viral ad last month, where he stood in front of a dumpster fire, declared Washington, D.C. to be a dumpster fire, and said he and Minnesotans knew how to put out said dumpster fire.
Painter appeared alongside Minnesota podcast host Benjamin Kruse in a promo Thursday night for a Friday appearance on "Up and At ‘Em," where they stood in front of another dumpster fire and appeared to be poking fun at the ad.
Painter has referred to Trump as "psychologically deranged," "unstable," destined for "jail," destined for "impeachment," and treasonous.
Check out the spot above.
Here's a transcript of the promo:
MAN: “Tomorrow morning on ‘Up an at ‘Em’ we have Richard Painter running for U.S. Senate against Tina Smith on the DFL primary ticket. Um, how did you put this out in your campaign ad?”
PAINTER: “Well, Washington, D.C. is a dumpster fire and we need to put it out. Lot of water all over that dumpster fire. That’s what we’re going to do in this primary and in November.”
MAN: “I have no water to put this out.”
PAINTER: “Well, we’re going to have to do it the old-fashioned way. Throw sand on it.”
MAN: “Up an at ‘em.”