Zellnor Myrie speaks at church, vows to stand up against Trump

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie spoke at the sixteenth church he’s visited since launching his mayoral campaign on Sunday, vowing to fight for Civil Rights that are under threat from the Trump administration – and took a veiled shot at New York City Mayor Eric Adams and fellow candidate former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for not standing up and doing the same. 

“Community, our people are under attack. And what we need at this moment is leadership. Not people just coming to shake our hands, slap our backs, ask us for our votes,” Myrie told churchgoers at the Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. “We need leaders. Leaders willing to stand up – not people that come and sit in our pews on Sunday and praise our oppressors on Monday.”

While Myrie didn’t mention Cuomo or Mayor Adams by name, a spokesperson for his campaign said Myrie’s words were applicable to both men. As President Donald Trump’s Justice Department moved to dismiss Mayor Adams’ federal corruption case, the mayor has avoided saying anything negative about the president – a stance that’s spurred some to accuse him of cooperating with Trump to improve his legal situation. (Mayor Adams has denied any wrongdoing). Cuomo too has rarely criticized Trump at least by name. While the former governor is known in part for challenging Trump during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic – and whose “Mr. Tough Guy” perception has been hailed by supporters as what the city needs right now – Cuomo has not specifically criticized Trump since the inauguration. Myrie along with some of the other mayoral candidates have charged that the silence has been telling.

“We cannot be silent in this moment. We cannot be discouraged at this moment, but we must stand up for our community,” Myrie added Sunday, seeking to juxtapose himself as someone who will fight against the Trump administration’s vision to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights rollbacks, and mass firing of federal employees.  

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries also attended and spoke at the service Sunday, relaying a similar message to Myrie about the need to show up “in defense of our democracy until we can end this national nightmare.” (A spokesperson for Jeffries said his appearance was unrelated to Myrie’s.)

Predominately Black churches – including Baptist, Methodist, Catholic and Pentecostal denominations – like the one Myrie attended Sunday have long maintained significant political power in New York City. Recognizing that church-going, older Black New Yorkers are among the Democratic Party’s most loyal and dependable voters, churches tend to be frequent stops for mayoral candidates along the campaign trail. The buildup to the June 24 Democratic primary has certainly been no exception.

Mayor Adams, who has deep roots in the city’s Black churches, unsurprisingly has continued to visit congregations as he faces an increasingly challenging path to a second term. Black churchgoing New Yorkers and other faith-based communities played a big role in his 2021 victory, though as his political capital has diminished it’s unlikely he can count on the same degree of support for his re-election campaign. Like Myrie, whose sixteen church visits have brought him across Brooklyn, Harlem, the Bronx, and southeast Queens, former Assembly Member Michael Blake, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Cuomo are also making visiting predominantly Black churches a priority as they look to build support for their campaigns. 

Speaker Adams spoke at two churches in Brooklyn Sunday – the third and fourth she’s visited since launching her mayoral campaign a little over a week ago. While Cuomo only made his entrance into the race official roughly two weeks ago, he gave a series of speeches at churches in the months prior and has spoken at several more since kicking off his campaign. Blake, a minister in the United Methodist Church and African Methodist Episcopal church, has also spoke at and visited a handful of other churches since launching his campaign.