Asked about Trump’s sympathies, Adams said, ‘I welcome support from every American’

Mayor Eric Adams was asked Tuesday if he accepts former President Donald Trump’s support after the Republican nominee for president wished him luck and empathized with Adams, claiming the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York’s charges against him were politically motivated. 

Standing alone in the City Hall rotunda, Adams said he’s not rejecting it.

“No matter where they are or who they are, I welcome support from every American,” he told reporters. “Those who know me and know how I am, and those who are just reading up on this. So every American in this great country, I welcome support from.”

The mayor normally holds a press conference with his senior aides every Tuesday. But he said he wanted his deputy mayors to focus on “running the city” this week. Resignation letters have poured in over recent weeks in response to multiple federal investigations. This week, he braved the press conference alone.

Former President Trump has consistently accused the Biden administration of using the Justice Department as a political tool to target opponents, a charge the Biden administration strongly denies.

Trump offered empathy to the mayor last week when he said he predicted the SDNY’s charges against him.

“I watched about a year ago when he talked about how the illegal 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 at a press conference in Trump Tower on Thursday after the indictment was unsealed. “Because that’s what we have – we have people that use the Justice Department and the FBI at levels that have never been seen before.”

Even without Trump’s olive branch, Adams insinuated before that the charges brought against him were politically motivated. In a recorded address to New Yorkers from City Hall after the charges against him were announced, the mayor said he became a target.

“Despite our pleas, when the federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system with no relief, I put the people of New York before party and politics,” Adams said in his address. “I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target – and a target I became."

Adams pleaded not guilty to the five-count indictment including charges of bribery, wire fraud and illegal campaign fundraising. His attorney has asked the court to dismiss the bribery charge.

Mayor Adams is facing increasing calls to resign amid the investigation, but has repeatedly refused to do so. The mayor is due back in court on Wednesday.