MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

WEDNESDAY
JUNE 25, 2025

It’s officially hot commie summer.”

 
— Hedge fund billionaire Dan Loeb, as Wall Street panics over the victory of Zohran Mamdani in NYC.

EMPIRE STATE OF SHOCK

MAGA and Wall Street are freaking out over a socialist’s win in the Big Apple. The Democratic Party is watching very warily.  

- Zohran Mamdani staged a stunning, come-from-behind upset in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary race last night. This charming 33-year-old is poised to bring many firsts to the mayor’s office: He’s a democratic socialist, a Muslim, a Ugandan-born immigrant of Indian heritage, and an amateur rapper with the stage name [Mr. Cardamom]([link removed]). The jaws of political geeks everywhere dropped to the floor after he toppled a political dynasty by kicking Andrew Cuomo, the state’s scandal-plagued former governor, down into one of Manhattan’s famous steam vents. 

- New York’s hedge fund class is spiraling into full-blown panic mode over fears that he’ll hike their taxes to pay for his campaign promises (like free bus fare, no cost childcare, and city-run grocery stores). “It’s officially hot commie summer,” [tweeted]([link removed]) Dan Loeb, a top hedge fund manager. “I’m depressed and sad,” hedge fund executive Ricky Sandler [told the Wall Street Journal]([link removed]), vowing to move his family away from NYC if Mamdani wins the general election. Watch out Westport, Connecticut, he’s coming for you! 

- They probably won’t actually leave, Brad Lander, the city’s comptroller who cross-endorsed with Mamdani, told What A Day this morning. People live in New York City because of its vibrant energy, entertainment, and opportunities, he said. As long as trash is collected from the streets and people can live comfortably, the city will carry on. And anyways, he’d be happy if billionaire troll Bill Ackman would scram: “I’d be glad to see [him] go to Florida. I think New York would be better off.”
 

- The winner of the Democratic primary traditionally also wins the general election in this town, but Mamdani’s future victory isn’t assured. The city’s richest people are now banding together against him to [support comically corrupt]([link removed]) Mayor Eric Adams, who’s running as an Independent. Cuomo may also run as an Independent. “I hope Andrew Cuomo will decide that he got trounced, and that it would be better to go get busy with the rest of his life than to get trounced again in November,” Lander said. “Good fucking riddance.”

 
Prominent mainstream Democrats also seem unsettled by the implications of Mr. Cardamom’s victory.

- Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” seemed [visibly disturbed]([link removed]) by the news this morning. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries congratulated Mamdani with [unenthusiastic statements]([link removed]), but didn’t endorse him. “The people who hate this result the most are the Democratic establishment,” [said]([link removed]) CNN chief data analyst Harry Enton.

- Will Democrats rally around Mamdani? That’s TBD. But the party “cannot afford internecine wars amongst Democrats, where we’re fighting each other,” Lander said. “It's great to have experiments, to run primaries, to see what excites people and push forward, and then remember, ultimately, it is we are in an existential crisis of our democracy and our enemy, our enemy is Donald Trump and not each other.”

- It’s a massive problem when Republicans cultivate and foster their charismatic stars and Democrats tear theirs down, said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “This needs to stop if Democrats want to win again,” she told What A Day. 

- “What’s happening in NYC is a blaringly loud message to those in the Dem establishment who still cling to old politics, recite focus-grouped talking points, and are too afraid to say what needs to be said,” tweeted Crooked’s own Dan Pfeiffer.

President Donald Trump reacted with his usual graciousness. “He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart,” Trump wrote on social media. Idk… I think he’s just jealous that [even EmRata loves Zohran]([link removed]).

WAR & SHEESH

Donald Trump is big mad that Trump’s own spies don’t believe that he “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. 
 
The Trump administration insists that its strikes on Iran’s three nuclear sites buried its uranium deep underground — even though [early U.S. intelligence shows]([link removed]) that the facilities were not destroyed, and that the program was likely set back by just a few months.
 
“If you want to make an assessment of what happened … you better get a big shovel and go really deep because Iran's nuclear program is obliterated,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the NATO summit in the Netherlands today. (We’ll say it again: Why doesn’t the Pentagon think Iran has shovels??? Shoveling out the nuclear stuff is, surely, exactly what Iran would do!)
 
Hegseth accused the media of blowing the story out of proportion to make Trump look bad, and announced an [FBI probe into the leak]([link removed]). Actually, buddy, it’s your own people making you look bad!
 
Trump attacked the CNN reporter who broke the news of the report: “She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out ‘like a dog.’”
 
Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined the spin machine too, [blatantly contradicting]([link removed]) the U.S. intelligence report: “The bottom line is, they are much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog warned that Iran [knows how to rebuild]([link removed]) its nuclear infrastructure — which is especially concerning, because the country now has good reason to want to build a nuke. Mission accomplished!

WHAT A SPONSOR

 
[link removed]
This newsletter is sponsored by BetterHelp.

Has this past month in the news given you emotional whiplash? Maybe you're feeling overwhelmed and more-than-a-little tired of continually living through "unprecedented times." We know we are.

If you’re thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It’s entirely online. Designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule.

Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist, and switch therapists any time for no additional charge.

Learn the necessary coping skills to manage the rollercoaster of life, with Betterhelp.

Visit [BetterHelp.com/WAD]([link removed]) today to get 10% off your first month.

 

 

[link removed]

WHAT ELSE?

[The United States won’t impose more sanctions]([link removed]) on Russia yet, rebuking a push from European allies, according to Marco Rubio. “If we did what everybody here wants us to do, and that is come in and crush them with more sanctions, we probably lose our ability to talk to them about the ceasefire and then who's talking to them?” Rubio told Politico.
 
[The U.S. will pull financial support from]([link removed]) an international agency that purchases vaccines for children in poor countries, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the group’s leaders. He accused the agency of having “ignored the science” about vaccinating kids. It really feels like the dead brainworm inside Kennedy’s head came back to life, and is making him do insane shit. I mean, if that really happened, who could tell the difference?
 
[The Trump administration is gearing up]([link removed]) to test a 50-year-old law that’s meant to prevent the president from refusing to spend funds approved by Congress. A win for Trump would mean a huge power grab. 
 
[House Speaker Mike Johnson is privately warning]([link removed]) that House Republicans could lose their majority next year if Congress passes the Senate’s version of the “big, beautiful bill,” which includes steep cuts to Medicaid. Can someone start a petition to call this the “big pain in the ass bill”?  Let’s be real here.
 
[Faith leaders and families in Dallas, Texas]([link removed]) are suing to block the state’s new law that requires classrooms to display copies — at least 16-by-20-inches! — of the Ten Commandments. “The government should govern; the Church should minister,” the lawsuit reads. “Anything else is a threat to the soul of both our democracy and our faith.” 

[Republican support for gay marriage has dipped]([link removed]) in recent years, according to a new Gallup poll. About 70 percent of Americans think gay marriage should be legal. But only 40 percent of Republicans think so, down from 55 percent in 2021 and 2022.

THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM
 

When Supreme Court opinions are flying fast and furious, the hosts of [Strict Scrutiny]([link removed]) are here to play everyone’s favorite game: Is This Legal?

This week, Leah Litman kicks things off with international law expert Bec Ingber to unpack the rules around using military force — yes, including bombing Iran. Then she’s joined by former legal journalist Mike Sacks and Georgetown Law's Steve Vladeck to break down the latest SCOTUS decisions, featuring Coach Kavanaugh’s metaphors, Alito’s angst, and a glimmer of hope from Justice Jackson. 

Listen to [Strict Scrutiny]([link removed]) wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube!

 
[link removed]

[A court in Costa Rica ordered the government]([link removed]) to release about 200 people, including 80 children, who were flown to a detention center there from the U.S. by the Trump administration in February. 

[Zookeepers in Baltimore are]([link removed]) feeding popsicles to animals to beat the East Coast heatwave. But these aren’t human popsicles: Cheetahs chow down “fishsicles” made of cans of tuna, while lions get “bloodiscles” made of, well, blood. Yum?

[Mish and Lucy, a pair of 5-year-old bears]([link removed]) in England, escaped from their conservation park, raided the nearby food stash, ate a week’s worth of honey — and took a long nap. The ordeal was caught on film, and I’m sooooo jealous of these bears. Mish and Lucy did nothing wrong!​

 
[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed] [link removed] [link removed] [link removed]
[Share this newsletter]([link removed])
No longer want to receive these emails? [Unsubscribe]([link removed]).
Crooked Media 4817 N 56th St Suite 45 Lincoln, Nebraska 68504