Democratic politicians in New York grew increasingly angry with Mayor Adams on Monday after he suggested it’s wrong to call Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a “fascist” — a stance the mayor took before the ex-president’s weekend rally in Manhattan, where speakers made racist remarks.
The mayor said Saturday he doesn’t believe it’s appropriate to label Trump a fascist or compare him to dictators like Adolf Hitler. “My answer is no,” Adams told reporters. “I know what Hitler has done and I know what a fascist regime looks like.”
Those comments run counter to messaging from Vice President Kamala Harris, whose presidential campaign has in the leadup to next week’s election honed in on depicting Trump as an aspiring autocrat with fascist tendencies that are antithetical to American values.
“He absolutely is undermining Kamala and helping Trump, and it’s appalling,” said city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a progressive Democrat.
Adams’ comments prompted Trump to thank him by name during his Sunday campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, where the former president told the crowd the mayor has been “really great” and that it was “very nice” of the mayor to stick up for him.
Adams’ office didn’t return a request for a reaction from the mayor Monday. A spokesman for Harris’ campaign didn’t respond to messages, either.
Meantime, a number of local elected Democrats blasted Adams.
Manhattan state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Democrat who made headlines earlier this month by comparing Sunday’s planned Trump campaign event to the infamous 1939 rally by American Nazis at The Garden, said he was disappointed in Adams.
“I’d hope the mayor would defend the New Yorkers who were so viciously targeted at the MSG rally — including women, Jews, Muslims and Puerto Ricans — rather than shamelessly sucking up to Trump,” Hoylman-Sigal, whose district includes The Garden, said, referring to the racist and sexist remarks made by speakers at Trump’s rally.
After Trump’s event, Adams took to X to condemn “hateful words that were used by some at today’s rally,” an apparent reference to speakers who made offensive comments, including a self-described comedian who called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage” and claimed Latinos “enjoy having babies.” The mayor’s post didn’t mention Trump or any other rally speakers by name.
Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler, a progressive Democrat, agreed with Williams that Adams is giving the former president a leg up in the Nov. 5 election by contradicting the Harris campaign’s talking points.
“Trump’s record of fascist rhetoric is well documented — the mayor’s choice to defend him is profoundly disturbing and counterproductive,” said Restler. “New Yorkers deserve leaders who stand up for our values.”
Several of the candidates challenging Adams in next year’s Democratic mayoral primary, including state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and City Comptroller Brad Lander, also took aim at him over the latest Trump flap.
Lander said Adams’ comments make it seem like he’s hoping Trump, if elected, might help resolve his legal troubles with the feds. “NYC needs a mayor who will protect us from an authoritarian – and yes, fascist – bully, not one who appears to be seeking a pardon from him,” Lander wrote on X.
Adams, who says he’s supporting Harris in next week’s high-stakes election, has had Trump come to his defense twice in recent weeks.
After Adams was indicted on Sept. 26 on federal charges alleging he took bribes from Turkish government operatives in exchange for political favors, Trump said he wished the mayor “well” and that he was convinced “dirty players” in the Department of Justice are prosecuting him as punishment for his criticism of President Biden’s handling of the migrant crisis.
“I welcome support from every American, no matter where they are and who they are,” Adams said when asked earlier this month for a response to Trump’s support. Adams has pleaded not guilty in the case brought by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office.
Trump, who’s facing two federal indictments and was convicted of state-level criminal charges in Manhattan this spring, again offered sympathetic comments for Adams during the Al Smith Dinner on Oct. 17, telling the mayor they are both being “persecuted” by Biden’s Justice Department, but that he’s confident they’ll both “win.”
Asked last week if he would disavow Trump’s comments, Adams said New Yorkers need to look at the issues. “I’m just not going to get back and forth on comments that are made on both sides,” he said.
