New York mayor Eric Adams used a mocking social-media post to deride rival Zohran Mamdani, pairing bench-press footage with a crude caption and an incorrect age, then deleted and replaced it. The incident followed a separate scandal involving a former Adams aide passing a reporter a crisp packet filled with cash. Several politicians are adopting confrontational, attention-seeking online tactics that echo Donald Trump's style. Examples include Australian senator Ralph Babet and US vice-president JD Vance engaging in provocative social-media behavior. California governor Gavin Newsom is noted for executing a more effective version of this combative online approach.
Every time you think US politics could not possibly get any stupider, it does. Today's instalment of we live in hell, where politicians are passing around the last remaining brain cell comes via New York and the latest shenanigans of the city's mayor, Eric Adams. Desperate to distract voters from a steady stream of scandals, the latest of which involves a former aide giving a reporter a crisp packet filled with cash after an Adams mayoral campaign event,
This weekend, Adams joined Andrew Cuomo, the former governor who is running as an independent in November's election, and others in mocking Zohran Mamdani, the charismatic Democratic candidate and frontrunner, for his weightlifting efforts at a community event. Adams posted a side-by-side video on X of himself and Mamdani bench-pressing with the caption: 67 vs. 33 The weight of the job is too heavy for Mamscrawny.' The only thing he can lift is your taxes.
Inventing childish nicknames for your rivals? Classic Donald Trump. Getting basic facts embarrassingly wrong? Super Trumpy. Obsessing over your manliness, rather than focusing on issues voters care about? Trumpy to the max. Adams isn't the only politician emulating the president's idiosyncratic communication style. Across the globe, we are witnessing the seemingly unstoppable rise of the trollitician. From the Australian senator Ralph Babet tweeting tirades about woke ass clowns to the US vice-president, JD Vance, insulting the IQs of his detractors,
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