Eric Adams.
Photo: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Speculation that Eric Adams was seriously mulling an end to his reelection campaign for mayor reached a fever pitch this week amid recent reporting that the Trump administration was discussing a potential role for Adams in the federal government in exchange for his exit. But in a fiery press conference on Friday evening, Adams insisted he’s staying in the race and took direct aim at his closest competitors, particularly former governor Andrew Cuomo — who he alleged was “a snake and a liar” — as well as Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.
“There has been so much speculation, communications, announcements of what I’m doing no matter what I have stated over and over again publicly. So, I want to be clear with you. Andrew Cuomo is a snake and a liar. I am in this race, and I’m the only one that can beat Mamdani,” Adams said.
Adams also reiterated his frequent refrain from the campaign trail that Cuomo has a history of marginalizing Black politicians, naming former comptroller Carl McCall and former governor David Paterson. “You’ve heard me say it over again. Carl McCall, Charlie King, David Paterson. This is his career. That must stop with me. This city can’t go backwards,” Adams said.
The mayor also targeted Mamdani, saying his and Cuomo’s backgrounds do not reflect that of the average New Yorker. “I have two spoiled brats running for mayor. They were born with silver spoons in their mouths, not like working-class New Yorkers,” Adams said. “I’m a working-class New Yorker. They are not like us. They never had to fight. They never had to struggle, they never had to go through difficult times like you and I had to go through, New Yorkers. This is such a pivotal and important period, and we have to get it right.”
It was earlier this week that the New York Times reported that associates of Adams had met with top Trump advisers about a potential role in the administration with the goal of narrowing the mayoral field. The outlet also found that the specific role of U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia had been raised in those talks and that Adams recently met with Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, during a previously unannounced trip to Florida earlier this week.
The mayor shot down reporting from NY1 that he is slated to travel to Washington, D.C., next week to meet with Trump aides with the intention of discussing the future of his political career. Adams said he will be traveling throughout the five boroughs, promoting his campaign.
“I’m running for reelection, and I’m going to tell New Yorkers every day why I believe I should be the mayor of the city of New York in 2026,” he said.
Adams didn’t respond to shouted questions from reporters about whether or not he would accept a job from Trump.
The president was asked about the potential job offers shortly after Adams’s press conference. Trump denied offering Adams an ambassadorship, insisted it wasn’t wrong to offer him an ambassadorship, and made it sound as though he didn’t really care what Adams did:
Mamadani released a statement which didn’t directly respond to Adams’s latest attack, but he also tweeted this:
This post has been updated.
