Mayor Eric Adams threw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s replacement at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket Monday after initially stopping short of doing so less than 24 hours earlier.
Hizzoner, during a Monday morning interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, gave Harris his full-throated backing, which followed her announcing her bid for the White House after Biden bowed out of the presidential race on Sunday.
It came after Adams, on Sunday, declined during multiple interviews to endorse Harris, saying that as a Democratic delegate, he did not want to “interfere with that process.”
“I’m looking forward to a good, healthy conversation and allow the senior leaders of the party to carve out the steps forward,” Adams said during an interview on 1010 WINS Sunday.
But by Monday morning, the mayor sang a different tune — saying that he not only supports Harris to be the current Democratic nominee. He also pointed out that he backed Harris’ unsuccessful presidential bid in 2020; Adams was Brooklyn borough president at the time.
“I’m looking forward to moving towards a convention, seeing the Vice President Harris becoming the nominee,” Adams said. “I think that she is the voice that the party needs right now, that we’re hemorrhaging African Americans. We’re hemorrhaging Hispanic voters. We’re hemorrhaging those working class people who don’t realize the Democratic Party has a good product.”
Biden’s decision to abandon his reelection campaign came after weeks of mounting pressure from fellow Democrats concerned that his advanced age and apparent frailty would hand the election over to former GOP President Donald Trump. The debate over whether Biden should continue as the nominee kicked into full gear after his calamitous debate performance against Trump late last month.
While Harris has already amassed support from several leading Democrats — including President Biden, former President Bill Clinton and US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) — she still must win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention next month. Harris has not yet gotten backing from other prominent Democrats, such as US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Brooklyn).
The mayor said he changed his tune on Harris after meeting with New York state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs, when asked about his sudden switch by the news site THE CITY outside of City Hall on July 22.
“Really, I want to send a strong message, it’s time for us to unite, be clear on our message to the public and fight for those issues that are important,” Mayor Adams told the outlet. “Affordability, educating our children, dealing with our border issues, these are bread and butter issues that I hear on the ground and it’s time to be united on one message.”
The mayor added, “I’m a soldier, I do whatever the general tells me to do,” when asked how he would support Harris’ candidacy.
Adams at times found himself at odds with both Biden and Harris over their administration’s handling of the massive influx of migrants over the past couple of years, which has seen over 200,000 newcomers flow into New York City. He has publicly called out the administration on many occasions for not providing the city with enough resources and support to handle the deluge of newcomers.
