Mayor Eric Adams is staying in the mayoral race—for now.
In a four-minute speech to the press outside Gracie Mansion on Friday afternoon, the mayor tried to tamp down on reports that he was weighing a job in the Trump administration in exchange for dropping out—a move that would ultimately help Andrew Cuomo.
"Andrew Cuomo is a snake and a liar," Adams said within seconds of taking the podium. "I am in this race. And I'm the only one that can beat Mamdani."
The mayor added, "Andrew has had a career of pushing Black candidates out of races," referring to Cuomo's run for governor in 2002 against H. Carl McCall, his 2006 run against Charlie King for attorney general, and his 2010 investigation into then-Governor David Paterson. (Left unsaid by Adams: All three of those men backed Cuomo's candidacy before the primary, though Paterson has since switched his alliance to the mayor.)
Later in the speech, Adams seemingly invoked Kendrick Lamar.
"I have two spoiled brats running for mayor," Adams said. "They were born with silver spoons in their mouths, not like working class New Yorkers. I'm a working class New Yorker. They are not like us." (Curtis Sliwa, who is polling higher than Adams, was not mentioned.)
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