In an unusual move for a Democrat amid a hotly-fought presidential contest, Mayor Adams voiced appreciation Tuesday for former President Donald Trump coming to his defense last week after Adams became the first sitting mayor in modern New York history to be criminally indicted.
“I welcome support from every American, no matter where they are and who they are,” Adams said when asked in a press conference at City Hall whether he welcomes the support from the Republican nominee, who was convicted of state crimes in Manhattan this spring and is facing multiple pending indictments on both state and federal levels.
Adams went on: “Those who know me and know how I am and those who are just reading up on this … every American in this great country, I welcome support from.”
Spokespeople for Trump, who’s running against Vice President Kamala Harris in November’s presidential election, didn’t immediately return requests for a response to the mayor’s remarks.
Trump, a Queens native, offered sympathetic remarks for Adams during a press conference at his Midtown skyscraper last week when asked about the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s indictment of the mayor on charges that he solicited and accepted bribes from Turkish nationals in exchange for doing favors for the Turkish government.
“I noticed the indictment’s very old. It goes back a long time. Well, I had the same thing, they went way before the statute of limitations,” Trump told reporters, referring to the feds prosecuting Adams, who has pleaded not guilty.
“That’s what they do. These are dirty players. These are bad people. They cheat. These are bad people.”
Trump, who said he wishes Adams “well” and appreciates his “fairly generous” comments about him lately, also told reporters he believes the mayor’s criticism of President Biden’s handling of the migrant crisis has played a factor in his indictment.
“I watched about a year ago when he talked about how the … migrants are hurting our city, and the federal government should pay us, and we shouldn’t have to take them. And I said: You know what? He’ll be indicted within a year. And I was exactly right,” Trump said.
There’s no evidence Biden or his White House played any role in the indictment of Adams.
Still, Trump’s comments about the migrant crisis echo remarks from the mayor, who says he supports Harris in November’s election.
In a statement last week after the charges against him first came to light, Adams said he “always knew that if I stood my ground” in speaking out about the city’s migrant crisis “that I would be a target, and a target I became.”
In Tuesday’s press conference at City Hall, Adams declined to elaborate when asked for more detail on evidence linking his criticism of the Biden administration’s migrant crisis response to his indictment.
“That’s some of the stuff that you’re going to read in my book, on what I feel about that,” he said. “Now is not the opportune time.”
Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler, who’s among dozens of local Democrats who have called on Adams to resign since his indictment, said the mayor’s comments about Trump made him even more convinced he needs to step down.
“By embracing the support of the convicted former president, Mayor Adams reveals he is more focused on his criminal case than what is at stake for the people of New York City in this election,” Restler said.
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