NY Mayor Adams says Dems prioritized 'fascist' attacks on Trump over talking to everyday Americans
'We’ve reached a point in this country where we no longer want to engage in conversation,' Adams says
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York City Mayor Eric Adams told "The View" Friday that the Democratic Party needs to focus less on calling its political enemies fascists and focus more on speaking to the needs of everyday Americans.
Adams, a Democrat, was pressed about "defending" President-elect Donald Trump from comparisons to Adolf Hitler made by his own former staff. The mayor clarified he wasn’t defending Trump but criticizing the left’s hyperbolic rhetoric.
"We’ve reached a point in this country where we no longer want to engage in conversation. They were even calling him Hitler," he said, adding, "That was an insult to the millions of Jews and others who died. We know what Hitler did."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York City Mayor Eric Adams told "The View" he believes the Democratic Party have lost sight of everyday working class voters while fixating on painting Trump as a fascist.
Adams last month denounced former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s comparisons of his ex-boss to the infamous Nazi leader as well as descriptions of Trump as a fascist.
"I have heard those terms hurled at me by some political leaders in the city, using terms like Hitler and fascist. My answer is no, I know what Hitler has done and I know what a fascist regime looks like," he told the press.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He laid it out for the co-hosts of "The View," noting how this type of rhetoric ratchets up civil tension across the board.
"And what I said to our country, when I’m on the streets talking to my young people who are protesting on college campuses wearing Hamas signs and calling for the destruction of groups, I said, ‘We have to bring down this rhetoric. We have to start engaging in conversation.’"
"This is not the divided states, this is the United States. We’re the greatest country on the globe and people are watching us," he added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Co-host Joy Behar pushed back, asking, "But do you think Trump should’ve brought down the rhetoric?"
"Everybody should," he answered.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Behar fired back, "Well, let’s start at the top then, because maybe it trickles down." Again, Adams said, "Everybody should."
Later pressed about Harris underperforming President Biden's 2020 New York performance by 11 points in the 2024 election, Adams attributed the loss of support for state Democrats to the party having "stopped talking about working-class people issues."
"When mom and pops are afraid – ‘I can’t pay my college tuition,’ ‘The rent is too damn high,’ ‘Healthcare is too expensive’ – we stopped talking to everyday New Yorkers and Americans," he declared.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He continued, "When I’m in the streets talking to them, they’re not asking me, ‘Eric, tell me about fascism.’ They’re talking about finance. They’re not talking about Hitler. They’re talking about housing. We need to talk to everyday working-class people, and we stopped doing that. And those are the issues that they are afraid of. They’re afraid of the future of their children."