In a series of interviews early Friday, Eric Adams, the ethically crippled mayor of New York City, left open the possibility of rejoining the Republican Party.
Adams was a registered Republican from 1995 through 2002 before switching over to the Democratic Party. But when asked whether he’d consider switching his party affiliation (again) Adams chose to dance around the issue.
“The party that’s most important to me is the American Party. I’m a part of the American Party. I love this county,” the mayor said during an appearance on NY1. During a second interview with PIX11, he was similarly coy on a possible party shift. “No matter what party I’m on or vote on, I’m going to push for American values,” he said.
Finally, when pressed again, Adams said that he does plan to run for reelection as a Democrat. “I’ve been a Democrat for many years. And I’m going to run for reelection as a Democrat,” he said. “But my focus is the American people and the people of New York City.”
A switcheroo on Adams’ part wouldn’t be all that surprising. Adams has long been critical of Democratic immigration policies and previously accused President Joe Biden of being too lax when it came to dealing with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. At one point, Adams went so far as to say that an influx of asylum seekers would “destroy New York City.”
“Every community in this city is going to be impacted,” Adams said at the time. “We have a $12 billion deficit that we’re going to have to cut—every service in this city is going to be impacted. All of us.”
More recently, Adams has gone to great lengths to not offend or antagonize President-elect Donald Trump, whose racist and anti-immigrant messaging toward migrants (he’s called them “animals,” “stone cold killers,” and “the worst people,” among many other horrid names) increased tenfold during his third bid for the White House.
Tom Homan
Earlier this week, Adams even admitted to requesting a meeting with Trump’s incoming hardline border czar Tom Homan—which makes some sense considering that Adams also wants to work in tandem with the incoming administration. “I believe we can be very helpful in how we address this issue in a very real way,” he told reporters in November.
Adams’ shift in tone could, of course, be related to his legal situation: He remains under federal indictment for bribery and campaign finance offenses and may be cozying up to Trump with the hopes of him dismissing U.S. v. Eric Adams. Indeed, his openness to Trump has enraged Democrats because of the power Trump will have over the five-count criminal cases Adams faces in federal court.
Then there’s the added wrinkle that Adams apparently believes he was unfairly targeted (another action straight from Trump’s playbook). He implied in a November interview with the Wall Street Journal that he was purposefully singled-out by the federal government following his criticism of the Biden administration’s perceived lack of action on immigration.
“There are a lot of other people unhappy that I fought for this city,” Adams said.
It does appear as though Adams is so desperate for Trump’s approval (and likely a presidential pardon) that he’s willing to do whatever’s needed to be in the incoming president’s good graces. But his noncommital answer over whether he’ll remain a Democrat certainly rubbed some of his colleagues the wrong way. In a statement, New York state Sen. Jessica Ramos jokingly encouraged Adams to run as a Republican.
“I don’t mind Mayor Adams finally being honest about being a Republican,” she said, “but then he should just run as one and let the Democrats pick a real leader.”
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani issued a statement of his own, writing, Eric Adams is “in City Hall because Democratic voters sent him there. To serve his own narrow self-interests, he is clearly prepared to betray them.”
Democratic officials may finally see just how icky of a guy Adams is. But that doesn’t seem to bother the mayor. In fact, he offered a terse rebuttal to anyone who would dare to call out his allegiances any further. “For those who don’t like it, they will cancel me,” he said. “And I say: Cancel me. I’m for America.”
Adams might be having a field day trolling his Democratic counterparts about whether he’ll remain committed to democracy as a Democrat, but it seems like Trump will get the last laugh. According to Rolling Stone, Trump’s allies have apparently poked fun at Adams for being “thirsty” for the incoming president’s attention. One member of Trump’s transition team put Adams’ latest efforts to kiss the ring on blast. “How long until the actual begging and love letters start?” they quipped.
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