Clay Aiken, the runner-up from the second season of “American Idol” who lost his bid for Congress in North Carolina in 2014, told HuffPost Live he faced a great deal of cynicism when he first announced his political plans.

“Yeah, there was cynicism. I mean, we called it, we called it ‘What The Fuck Mountain’ for a while,” said Aiken, who’s been busy promoting a documentary series he filmed for the Esquire Network called “The Runner-Up.” “We called it that for a while because it was that reaction that people had when they found out Clay Aiken’s running for Congress. ‘What the,’ you know?”

Aiken, a Democrat, was defeated by Rep. Renee Elmers (R-N.C.) in the race to represent the state’s 2nd District. He recently told Time another run for office could be in his future.

“The Runner-Up” premieres Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET on the Esquire Network.

Watch Aiken on HuffPost Live above.

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