New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani struggled to lift a 135-pound barbell during Brooklyn’s annual Men’s Day open-streets festival on 24 August, relying on a spotter from the community group “500 Men Making a Difference” to complete two assisted repetitions. The 33-year-old Democratic Socialist had initially hesitated before giving in to encouragement from onlookers, according to video circulated online and first reported by the New York Post. Political rivals quickly seized on the footage. Mayor Eric Adams, 64, uploaded a side-by-side video of himself performing multiple reps with the same weight, writing that the job of mayor is “too heavy” for his challenger. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, now running as an independent, echoed the jab, saying Mamdani “can’t bench his own body weight, let alone carry the weight of leading the most important city in the world.” The episode adds an unflattering viral moment to a campaign in which Mamdani remains the front-runner. An AARP/Gotham Polling survey released 19 August showed him leading the four-way contest with 42 percent support, ahead of Cuomo at 23 percent, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa at 17 percent and incumbent Adams at 9 percent. Whether the gym mishap dents that advantage will become clearer as the race heads into its autumn stretch.