Former DOGE staffer Edward “Big Balls” Coristine has served up fresh content to his growing MAGA fanbase, signaling that he’s back in action after being assaulted in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.
The 19-year-old, now employed at the Social Security Administration, posted a video of himself benching what appears to be 225 pounds on X Sunday, captioned simply “recovery.”
Coristine powers through the first two reps, but on the third his hips shoot off the bench in a classic form break, before he finally grinds the bar back into the rack.
Katie Miller, the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, gushed over the clip.
“That’s more than @RepSwalwel & @ZohranKMamdani,” she wrote, shading California Democrat Eric Swalwell and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
“Big Balls > Democrats,” Miller, a former top aide at DOGE, added.
Coristine has become a MAGA martyr since he was allegedly assaulted by a boy and a girl, both 15, during a carjacking on Aug. 3. Details of Coristine’s injuries remain unclear, but a source told the New York Post that he sustained a broken nose, a concussion, and a black eye.
Images from the incident showing Coristine bloodied and beaten apparently spurred President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard and take control of the Washington, D.C., police force in the name of a crime crackdown, even though violent crime in the city hit a 30-year low last year.
The White House has also said it would consider giving Coristine a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Some on the right have gone so far as to pitch Coristine, who was raised in Larchmont, New York, as a potential challenger to Mamdani in New York City’s mayoral race.
Coristine’s bench-press video was met with a flood of X users cheering him on.
“Future President” one user commented, while another advised, “Nice work!! Keep your backside on bench- arching will hurt your back long term.”
On Thursday, a judge ordered the two 15-year-olds charged in connection with Coristine’s assault out of detention at D.C.’s Youth Services Center and back to their caretakers.
