OAN’s Brooke Mallory
12:57 PM – Wednesday, February 7, 2024
New York City Mayor Eric Adams blamed racism for his current political woes, claiming that criticism of his efforts as mayor stems from the fact that his administration is made up primarily of people of color (POC).
Adams (D-N.Y.), who has had a difficult time dealing with the city’s unprecedented flood of illegal immigrants, is also currently the subject of an FBI investigation into his mayoral campaign.
At a Brooklyn town hall late last week, Adams claimed that he has been receiving similar criticism to “what David Dinkins experienced” as New York City’s first Black mayor.
“We are moving the needle forward,” Adams said. “Is there more to do? You’re darn right there is, but this committed team is getting it done.”
Later in the speech, he pointed to five of his deputy mayors who happen to be women and POCs. Sheena Wright, Anne Williams-Isom, Meera Joshi, Ana Almanzar, and Maria Torres-Springer are Adams’s deputy mayors.
“Stand up, stand up; they need to see you,” Adams said, calling them out one by one.
“Have you ever seen this much chocolate lead in the city of New York?” Adams said to the crowd. “And then go down the line; look who’s here. This is representative of the city. That’s why people are hating on me. You’re trying to figure out, why the hating on me?”
Adams also equated his leadership as the NYC mayor to the Bible story of Jesus entering the temple. However, he did not mention what group was condemning him.
“How many of you go to church?” Adams said to attendees. “This is a Matthew 21 and 12 moment. Jesus walked in the temple, he saw them doing wrong in the temple. He did what?” Adams continued.
“I went to city hall to turn the table over.”
In Matthew 21:12, “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.” (NIV translation)
The mayor then began discussing how diverse his administration is for the second time.
“First woman police commissioner of color. First Spanish-speaking police commissioner. First Spanish-speaking correction commissioner. Go through the line of what we’re doing in two years.”
After that, Adams went on another tangent where he claimed that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-N.Y.) profited from his predecessor’s legislation, and he continued to compare his reign to that of previous Mayor David Dinkins (D-N.Y.).
“It took us 30 years after what they did to David Dinkins, and who did we get after David Dinkins? Giuliani,” Adams said. “It was a set-up for a setback, that’s what it was.
“And you know what happened with David Dinkins? They wore him down so much that black folks didn’t come out to vote. They said, ‘You know what, we’re not coming out.’ They just beat him and wore him down over and over and over again,” Adams continued.
“David Dinkins was the one who passed the legislation for safe city, safe streets that allowed us to get the resources we needed to bring down crime in our city. And who benefited from it? Giuliani. Giuliani.”
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