Story highlights
- New Yorkers don't use utensils
- Kasich claims the slice was hot
(CNN)This is a gaffe that could really come back to bite him.
With weeks to go before the important New York primary on April 19th, Ohio Gov. John Kasich came to the state looking for votes and a little something to eat.
Good move: He had pizza. Bad move: He ate it with a fork.
The unforgivable food faux pas -- liable to send New Yorkers into a tizzy -- occurred at Gino's Pizzeria in Howard Beach, Queens, during a campaign stop Wednesday night. In video of the incident, Kasich can be seen eagerly digging into what looks like a pepperoni pizza -- utensil first.
Kasich was confronted with the slip-up during an interview with Robin Roberts on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Thursday morning, and tried to defend himself.
"Look, Robin, look, look, the pizza came scalding hot, OK?" Kasich pizza-splained. "And so I used a little fork. You know what, my wife, who is on spring break with my daughters, she said, 'I'm proud of you. You finally learned how to use a utensil properly.' But I mean -- not only did I eat the pizza, I had the hot sausage. It was fantastic."
That prompted Roberts to strike at the heart of the issue: "New Yorkers eat their pizza a certain way, just saying. Not just New Yorkers, but around the world."
Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit on April 18, 2015, in Nashua, New Hampshire. The summit was attended by all the 2016 Republican candidates as well as those eying a run for the nomination. Click through for more on the political career of Kasich:
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Kasich speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 28, 2012, in Florida.
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Kasich, left, and then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talk with students during a roundtable discussion at Otterbein University on April 27, 2012 in Westerville, Ohio. Romney eventually won the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
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Kasich, left, President Barack Obama, center, and Republican House Speaker John Boehner play the first hole of a golf game on June 18, 2011, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
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Kasich listens to Obama speak during a bipartisan meeting of governors hosted by the President and Vice President Joe Biden in the State Dining Room of the White House on February 28, 2010.
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Before officially taking office as governor of Ohio, Kasich talks with reporters after meeting with House and Senate Republican leaders at the U.S. Capitol on December 1, 2010. The GOP leaders talked about ways to create jobs, cut spending and repeal the health care law.
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Kasich, right, then a member of the U.S. House, sports "Bush" baseball caps with Texas Gov. George W. Bush on July 14, 1999. The two lawmakers held a news conference at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington during Bush's presidential run. Kasich had previously announced that he was withdrawing from the 2000 presidential race and endorsed Bush.
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U.S. Rep. Kasich delivers a speech in the Watergate complex in Washington on July 9, 1999, during the College Republican National Committee 53rd Biennial Convention. Other speakers included Republican 2000 presidential hopefuls such as Gary Bauer and Elizabeth Dole.
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During a U.S. government shutdown, Kasich, left, and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico, speak to reporters outside the White House on January 6, 1996.
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Kasich shows a videotape of President Bill Clinton speaking during a news conference on Capitol Hill on December 16, 1995. Kasich was chairman of the House Budget Committee at the time and disputed Clinton's position on the budget.
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Kasich, center, shows a thank you note in the form of a check to Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, left, and Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (right) on November 17, 1995, in Washington. They were soon engaged in bruising battles with President Bill Clinton over the federal budget.
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In fairness to Kasich, he proceeded to drop the offending fork after the first bite and gobbled up the rest of the slice with his hands.
Kasich is hardly the first politician to fall into the pizza trap.
Current New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio set off a firestorm in January of 2014 when he was caught on camera using a fork -- and a knife! -- to take down a slice.
And a little-known, aspiring pol from New York named Donald Trump became the center of controversy when "The Daily Show" ripped into him after he, too, was seen eating pizza with a utensil at a stop with Sarah Palin in 2011.
