Zohran Mamdani Struggles At Bench Press, Rivals Take Potshots As Video Goes Viral

Political opponents wasted no time capitalising on the mishap. Mayor Eric Adams and former Governor Andrew Cuomo took to social media, mocking Mamdani with pointed jabs.

Visuals from the event showed Mamdani struggling as a smiling, muscular attendee stepped in to assist.

Source : X

New Work Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani faced an unexpected embarrassment during the annual Men’s Day open streets event in Brooklyn on Saturday when he failed to complete a single unassisted bench press rep. The 33-year-old Socialist and Democratic nominee attempted to lift a bar reportedly loaded with 135 pounds but couldn’t get it off the rack without help.

Lolll Mamdani tried showing off at a “men’s day” event by doing the bench press and couldn’t do a single rep without help pic.twitter.com/JNG2SLBfI9

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 24, 2025

Visuals from the event showed Mamdani struggling as a smiling, muscular attendee stepped in to assist. Even with help, Mamdani managed only two reps, prompting laughter and viral chatter online. After the failed attempt, Mamdani thanked his spotter, a member of the community group “500 Men Making a Difference.”

Rivals Mock Zohran Mamdani

Political opponents wasted no time capitalising on the mishap. Mayor Eric Adams and former Governor Andrew Cuomo took to social media, mocking Mamdani with pointed jabs.

Adams posted a video of himself performing multiple reps at the same event, with the same spotter providing minimal assistance. “64 vs 33. A lifetime of hard work vs. a silver spoon. The results speak for themselves,” Adams wrote on X, highlighting the age gap and physical contrast.

The incident sparked a wave of memes and nicknames, with one of Mamdani’s rivals dubbing him “Mamscrawny.” Another jab from Adams read: “The weight of the job is too heavy for ‘Mamscrawny.’ The only thing he can lift is your taxes.”

While Mamdani has yet to respond to the trolling, the viral moment injected a dose of gym humour into the heated mayoral race and gave his opponents fresh ammunition in a contest already marked by sharp elbows.