New York City Mayor encourages politicians to lower tensions, denies Trump is fascist
Mayor Eric Adams disagrees with the suggestion that Trump’s rally should be canceled due to Kelly’s comments.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams rejected recent allegations that former President Donald Trump is a fascist and stated that Trump’s event at Madison Square Garden should proceed as planned.
“I have been called names like [Nazi leader Adolph] Hitler and fascist by some political leaders in the city,” stated the Democratic mayor at a press conference in New York City on Saturday.
“I know the history of Hitler and what a fascist regime entails. I believe, as I have repeatedly emphasized, that we should all strive to lower the intensity of our conversations,” Adams remarked during the conference, where he also outlined the extensive police presence arranged for Trump’s event at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on Sunday.
His comments followed Vice President Kamala Harris and her associates criticizing Trump in recent days after his former chief of staff John Kelly accused him of praising Adolf Hitler and the Nazis while in office. Trump has denied Kelly’s allegations.
Responding to these claims, Harris urged voters during a CNN town hall on Wednesday to listen to John Kelly’s accusations against the 45th president. “This is a significant matter. We must recognize who he is. He admires dictators,” Harris stated.
Kelly disclosed to the New York Times and the Atlantic that the former president desired generals similar to those Hitler possessed.
“He mentioned on multiple occasions that, ‘You know, Hitler did some positive things, too,’” Kelly revealed to the New York Times.
Kelly’s statement went unverified by other former Trump White House officials and was contradicted by Trump last week.
Trump asserted during a media event that he never made favorable remarks about Hitler during his tenure in the Oval Office, asserting that he “would never say that” and censuring The Atlantic and its reporting.
Additionally, Mike Ayers, former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, refuted the claims.
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“I’ve refrained from commenting on internal staff leaks, rumors, or lies related to my time at the White House. However, General Kelly’s remarks about President Trump are too egregious to overlook,” Ayers posted on X. “I was in company with both of them more than most, and his statements are unequivocally false.”
In response to Harris’s remarks, Trump’s campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung accused the Democratic candidate of disseminating “outright lies and falsehoods.”
Adams, who is currently implicated in federal bribery charges, stated on Saturday that he opposes the idea of canceling Trump’s rally due to Kelly’s statements.
“This is America. This is New York, and I believe it is crucial that we allow individuals to exercise their right to convey their message to New Yorkers,” expressed the mayor. “It is our responsibility as a city and a Police Department to ensure they can do so in a peaceful manner.”
Adams’s calls for less heated conversations also seemed to mirror a statement made earlier this year by President Joe Biden following the initial assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania. At the time, Biden called on Americans to “calm down” after the incident, in which a bullet grazed Trump’s ear.
A second assassination attempt on Trump took place in mid-September after the Secret Service confronted an individual aiming a rifle through a perimeter fence while the former president was golfing in Florida.
In mid-October, Trump spoke at the Al Smith charity dinner in New York and referred to the federal charges facing Adams, as well as his own. “They’ve targeted me, Mr. Mayor, and what they’ve done to me is far worse than what they’re doing to you,” he said on October 18. “You will be fine.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
