Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday refused to explicitly disavow Donald Trump’s effusive support for him after his federal indictment.
The Democratic mayor declined multiple times during his weekly press conference on Tuesday to reject comments Trump, the former president and current Republican presidential nominee, made in support of him last week at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner.
During the charity event, which functions as a comedic roast held every four years shortly before each presidential election, Trump openly sympathized with Adams over his federal legal troubles.
Trump himself has been convicted of 34 felony counts in Manhattan for interfering with the 2016 election by paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels — and has been indicted on federal charges in three other jurisdictions, including for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
But while Adams reaffirmed his support for Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, he notably would not swear off Trump’s remarks.
“New Yorkers need to hear the issues and I’m just not going to go back and forth on comments that are made on both sides,” Adams said. “Let’s hear the issues, let’s vote for the candidates and exercise the right to vote.”
Adams, after being pressed several more times by reporters about his stance on Trump without providing any clear answers, exasperatedly said he would not entertain any other inquiries about the topic.
He also would not answer a question on what he thinks New Yorkers should know if Trump wins the election.
“I answered the Trump question already,” Adams said. “If any of you have another Trump question you should save it because I’m not wasting my time on that anymore, I responded already.”
The questions also came days before Trump is set to hold a rally at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden this coming Sunday.
Mayor Adams’ refusal to distance himself from Trump on Tuesday fits into a recent trend of him noticeably declining to criticize the Republican standard bearer as the Nov. 5 election draws near.
After the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, PA back in July, the mayor publicly spoke out calling for “everyone” to dial down harsh political rhetoric, but did not single out Trump for his own history of inflammatory remarks — from urging rallygoers to beat up protesters to mocking the husband of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi after he was violently assaulted in his home.
During the Al Smith Dinner, Trump also repeated the unsubstantiated claim that Adams was indicted because he spoke out against the Biden White House over its handling of the migrant influx to New York City.
“Mayor Adams, good luck with everything,” Trump said. “They went after you. Nine and a half months ago, I said, ‘he just said something bad about the administration, he’s gonna be indicted any moment.’ And guess what happened?”
Adams last month pleaded not guilty to five federal counts including bribery, wire fraud and accepting illegal foreign campaign donations. He is accused of running a decade-long scheme in which he solicited and accepted unreported travel benefits and illegal donations from Turkish nationals in exchange for favors.
