Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had a strong start at the Democratic presidential debate on Wednesday, but it couldn’t possibly make up for his unbearably cringeworthy moments where he nearly slithered around the stage in order to avoid saying what he truly believed.

Bloomberg’s rivals at one point tag-teamed him on his stop-and-frisk policy as mayor, which involved minority-dense neighborhoods being stacked with police to crack down on violent crimes (a policy that strong evidence shows was, in fact, effective).