Watch: Zohran Mamdani Struggles At Bench Press, Rivals Say 'It's Easy To Talk'

New York's Indian-origin mayoral frontrunner, Zohran Mamdani, has gone viral after he attempted bench press at the annual Men's Day open streets event in Brooklyn on Saturday (Aug 23). Video clips shared on social media showed the 33-year-old socialist and Democratic Party nominee seeking help from multiple spotters to lift a 135-pound barbell.

In the now-viral clip, Mr Mamdani can be seen being egged by the crowd to get under the bar and lift it up. After getting into position, Mr Mamdani struggles to push the bar up as two spotters hold the bar and help him. In the end, an exhausted Mr Mamdani is seen walking away after performing two reps.

See the viral video here:

The clip, which has since gone viral, sparked brutal mocking, including from political rivals Mayor Eric Adams and ex-governor Andrew Cuomo. Mr Adams was the first one to take potshots at Mr Mamdani by sharing a video of himself bench pressing the weight without much help from a spotter.

"64 vs. 33. A lifetime of hard work vs. a silver spoon. The results speak for themselves. The weight of the job is too heavy for "Mamscrawny." The only thing he can lift is your taxes," wrote Mr Adams on X (formerly Twitter).

Independent candidate for mayor, Andrew Cuomo, also took a swipe at Mr Mamdani for his bench press display.

"It's easy to talk, it's hard to carry the burden. This guy can't bench his own body weight, let alone carry the weight of leading the most important city in the world," said Mr Cuomo.

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Despite the mocking, Mr Mamdani currently leads the mayoral race, having pulled in almost double the funds compared to the rivals. Last week, a Siena poll placed Mr Mamdani at 19 points ahead of Mr Cuomo, while a 12-poll average from Decision Desk HQ put him ahead of Mr Cuomo by 13 points.