Gavin Newsom is taking the fight to Trump – but for whom is he fighting? | Arwa Mahdawi

The California governor is one of the few Democrats who seems ready to play the president at his own game. But he also has to show voters that he has empathy and a vision for their future

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, he is trying hard to flex his social media muscles.

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." This post was quickly deleted and replaced with one that got Adams's age right: he is 64.