'Calamari comeback': Tiniest state's DNC video gets big buzz

'Calamari comeback': Tiniest state's DNC video gets big buzz

SeattlePI.com

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WARWICK, R.I. (AP) — There goes Rhode Island again — always finding a way to get its tiny tentacles onto the national stage.

In a made-for-memes moment sandwiched between other states' calls to fight poverty and end racial injustice, a lawmaker and a restaurateur with a heaping plate of sauteed squid stood on a beach and proclaimed Rhode Island the “calamari comeback state” at the virtual Democratic National Convention.

The 30-second spot, aired Tuesday night during the convention's roll call as Rhode Island's Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden for president, was an instant social media sensation. "Rhode Island” trended for hours overnight on Twitter.

Americans, including some Rhode Islanders, didn't seem to know quite what to make of the calamari cameo.

“My new home state of Rhode Island is trending over calamari and I have never been more hungry and confused at the same time,” tweeted Andrew Wortman, a volunteer firefighter and political activist.

The backstory: Joseph McNamara, who chairs the state Democratic Party and appeared in the video, lobbied successfully in 2014 to make calamari Rhode Island's official state appetizer.

“Rhode Island, the Ocean State, where our restaurant and fishing industry have been decimated by this pandemic, are lucky to have a governor, Gina Raimondo, whose program lets our fishermen sell their catches directly to the public and our state appetizer, calamari, is available in all 50 states," McNamara said in the DNC spot, adding: "The calamari comeback state of Rhode Island casts one vote for Bernie Sanders and 34 votes for the next president, Joe Biden.”

McNamara's “calamari comeback” comment touched off a flurry of social media posts, but the real star was the chef who stood silently next to him — John...

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