NYC mayor avoids disavowing Trump support due to silliness season

The Democratic mayor of true blue New York City passed up several opportunities on Tuesday to disavow or criticize Republican former President Donald Trump.

At his weekly off-topic media availability, Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams brushed off several questions about the Republican nominee for president, and avoided explicitly disavowing Trump’s stated support of Adams after Adams came under criminal indictment. 

At last week’s annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation charity dinner, where some of the nation’s most prominent politicians are known to give lighthearted speeches, Trump cast himself and Adams as fellow victims of the Department of Justice. “I know what it’s like to be persecuted by the DOJ for speaking out against open borders,” he said, referring to the unsupported notion that corruption charges against Adams were motivated by Adams’ criticism of the Biden administration on immigration issues. “We were persecuted, Eric. I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric.”

Asked on Tuesday about whether he would disavow those remarks – and his response to Democrats who say he should be disavowing them – Adams brushed off the issue. “This is the season where the silliness comes into politics,” he said. “This is where we are right now. New Yorkers need to hear the issues, and I’m just not going to give back and forth on comments that are made on both sides.”

Asked again later if he would explicitly disavow Trump’s support, Adams said that he had already answered “point blank.”

Despite not mentioning Vice President Kamala Harris by name during the press conference, Adams referred several times to his previously stated support for the Democratic nominee for president. “I said before, whatever the campaign needs me to do, I’m willing to do, but I’m not campaigning here. Right now, I’m dealing with running this amazing city of New York,” he said, in response to a question about whether he had any plans to campaign for Harris. “It’s imperative, particularly here in New York, Pennsylvania and other places, that we get the vote out.” 

Asked later if he had a message to New Yorkers about what a Trump candidacy would mean for the city, Adams again demurred. “I answered the Trump question already,” he said. “If any of you have another Trump question, you should save it because I’m not wasting my time on that, I responded already.”

Adams avoiding discussing the presidential election – or either candidate – in detail at these weekly press conferences is not new. Earlier this month, he declined to discuss whether a Trump victory could result in the DOJ dropping or curtailing the charges against him. “I don't speculate. I’ve made clear who I'm supporting, and I'm focused on that,” he said. 

A couple weeks earlier, he seemed to welcome Trump’s support over the indictment. “No matter where they are and who they are, I welcome support from every American,” he said.

At one point at an off-topic press conference earlier this month, Adams referenced advice from former City Hall counsel Lisa Zornberg about not going into campaign issues at these press conferences, due to guidance she said she received from the Conflicts of Interest Board. Whether Adams is still following that advice is unclear, but he has been more explicit about declining to answer certain categories of questions outright. When asked whether it would be appropriate for a potential Trump – or Harris – administration to reassess the fairness of the case against him, Adams directed reporters to his defense attorney. “That’s a question for Alex (Spiro), my attorney,” Adams said. “It’s not a question for me.”

Adams campaigned more openly for Harris at a rally in Harlem in August, prior to his indictment or to a series of raids of his top officials on Sept. 4. He also attended the Democratic National Convention that month, where he did press, but he wasn’t given an official speaking slot.