Public Advocate Jumaane Williams ramped up his criticism of Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday, suggesting Hizzoner is nearly equivalent to President-elect Donald Trump.
Williams branded Adams, a Democrat, as the “Trump of Brooklyn” in a Nov. 14 social media post that came amid the mayor going soft on the Republican firebrand in recent months.
The post included a report about Adams on Wednesday praising Trump’s appointment of controversial tech mogul Elon Musk as head of his newly formed Department of Government Efficiency. Adams, in a Pix11 interview on Nov. 13, said Musk was “important to bring on board” due to his stated intention to cut through government bureaucracy.
The public advocate made the comment as a play on Adams describing himself as the “Biden of Brooklyn” after he was elected in 2021 — referring to President Biden.
“It appears Eric Adams’ transformation from ‘The Biden of Brooklyn” to ‘The Trump of Brooklyn’ nears completion,” Williams said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which Musk owns.
amNewYork Metro reached out to the Mayor’s office for comment, and is awaiting a response.
The progressive public advocate has often been at odds with the centrist mayor — who was once a registered Republican — over the course his tenure in City Hall. The pair often butt heads on issues such as policing and how to approach the city’s homelessness crisis.
Since Trump’s election, however, progressives like Williams and City Comptroller Brad Lander have been far more open about drawing direct comparisons between Adams and Trump.
They have zeroed in on Adams’ apparent reluctance to criticize Trump in most instances and his lack of vocal support for Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed White House bid as the Nov. 5 election neared.
The mayor has also appeared to align with Trump on certain issues, such as immigration, in the wake of well over 200,000 migrants coming to the city since 2022 without much financial support from the Biden administration.
Adams’ tiptoeing around Trump has fueled speculation that he is trying to curry favor with the president-elect in the hopes of getting help with his federal legal troubles. The mayor was indicted by Manhattan federal prosecutors in late September on charges of bribery, soliciting foreign campaign donations and wire fraud. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has a trial date set for April 21 of next year.
Trump has openly expressed sympathy for Adams, suggesting — without evidence — that the federal case against him is baseless and is political retribution for the mayor’s outspokenness on the migrant crisis.
The New York Post also reported that Adams’ legal team was hoping for a Trump win because of the former president’s history of bailing his political allies out of legal trouble during his first term. Trump could appoint a new Manhattan US Attorney, to replace Damian Williams, who could toss the charges against Adams, or pardon the mayor if and when he is convicted.
Adams said he spoke with Trump last week, but claimed that they did not discuss the mayor’s legal troubles.
