The big development in New York City’s mayoral election over the weekend was Zohran Mamdani’s inability to execute a bench press. It was some kind of outdoor men’s event, and Mamdani was trying to press 135 pounds, which is not a lot but not a ridiculously small weight, either. It didn’t go well:
Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani struggled to execute a single unassisted bench press rep while trying to impress a crowd at the annual Men’s Day open streets event in Brooklyn Saturday — and wound up getting called “Mamscrawny” by a rival on social media.
Photos showed the 33-year-old Socialist, and Democratic Party nominee, was unable to lift a bar loaded with what was said to be 135-pounds off the rack without help — and his two reps required full assistance from a smiling, large-biceped Men’s Day celebrant, photos showed.
Not only could Mamdani not press the weight, he couldn’t even get it off the stanchions without pretty massive help:
Mamdani not being able to bench 135 is worse than Dukakis in the tank and provides a perfect video distillation of how weak, effeminate Democrats have lost men. Democrat men are pussies: pic.twitter.com/euGIZDpnix
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 25, 2025
It was a sad performance. Political rival and current mayor Eric Adams pointed out that he can do it, despite being decades older than Mamdani.
Mamdani was mocked by others, too, like Riley Gaines, who could press 165 pounds when she weighed 130:
165lb relatively easy reps on bench when I weighed 130lbs
Take note, @ZohranKMamdani pic.twitter.com/TNyv28VkgE
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) August 24, 2025
To make matters worse, video emerged of Mamdani kicking around a soccer ball with reasonable facility.
So it seems likely that Mamdani has never seen the inside of a gym. But so what? Is wimpiness a fatal defect for a politician in today’s world? Probably not, but still, it isn’t a quality to which politicians aspire. Think Michael Dukakis in the tank. John Kerry and the daisy flower power zipper pull. Pete Buttigieg.
Nevertheless, I don’t think his muscular weakness will hurt Mamdani. His voters are not exactly macho men. Or macho women. If he gets the votes of all those who have never set foot in a gym, he will win in a landslide. And so far at least, the bench press debacle hasn’t hurt Mamdani in the betting odds: he is holding firm at 84%.
