At a Men’s Day event in Brooklyn, Zohran Mamdani, candidate for New York City Mayor, struggled to bench press 135 pounds, needing a spotter’s help on the second rep, which led to mocking remarks that labeled him “Mamscrawny.” This incident became a cause for his political opponents, Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo, to question his ability to bear the responsibilities of office, interpreting this as a sign of personal weakness. Fixating on petty gaffes and tabloid fodder is hollow and it turns serious issues into superficial gossip. What really matters are Mamdani’s policy proposals, an area in which all three name-brand candidates are weak, not arbitrary qualities. However, as Sam Jenson and I warn in our joint commentary, Mamdani’s rent-control plan is abnormally bad and risks making affordable housing even harder to find in New York.

Meanwhile, Oren Cass’s book about reviving American manufacturing crumbles under scrutiny, revealing a protectionist agenda hidden behind glossy talking points just as the Senate Finance Committee held hearings on “Buy American” policies.

Samuel Staley reviews Jurassic World: Rebirth, finding that the film’s messaging sabotaged the thrills.

On Capitol Hill, Congress raced to finish its rescissions package, slashing Medicaid without freeing the healthcare market. Nikolai Wenzel deconstructs the move, explaining why it was a poor execution that will have additional downstream economic consequences.

As the White House slapped India with punitive tariffs on Russian oil, Kristian Fors warns that such measures are ineffective and undermine the free trade and peaceful diplomacy that powers prosperity.

Lastly, in the newest episode of Independent Outlook, Independent Institute scholars Williamson M. Evers and Ivan Eland join President Graham Walker to discuss the Russo-Ukrainian endgame and the potential repercussions of his congressional redistricting efforts in Texas for California.

Happy reading.

Jonathan Hofer
Managing Editor