Presidential candidate John Kasich may have made the biggest mistake of his political career. He came to New York looking for votes and got caught on camera eating a pepperoni flat crust with... a fork!

During a campaign stop Wednesday night, the offense unfolded at Gino's Pizzeria in Queens, New York. Deemed "pizza-gate" by the press, Kasich's food faux pas can actually inflict serious damage on the candidate.

With the New York primary set for April 19th, Kasich needs all the votes he can get, especially when up against famed New Yorker Donald Trump. New Yorkers take their pizza seriously, and may view Kasich's gaffe with the same intolerance Americans had when George H.W. Bush took a glance at his watch during the presidential debates. 

In an interview with Robin Roberts on ABC's Good Morning America, Kasich was actually asked to defend himself on the matter.

"Look, Robin, look, look, the pizza came scalding hot, OK?" Kasich explained. "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."

Roberts responded, "New Yorkers eat their pizza a certain way, just saying. Not just New Yorkers, but around the world."

As noted by CNN, Kasich only ate the first bite with a fork and proceeded to eat the rest with his hands, but the image remains, and he'll never live it down, and we'll never forget it.  

In all fairness, Kasich is not the first to cross such offensive lines. NY mayor Bill De Blasio angered millions last year when cameras caught him defiling a pizza with both a fork AND a knife. Double-offense.  

God save the pizza!