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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
As questions swirl about his future, Eric Adams pushes back and attacks | |
rivals in NYC mayoral race | |
By Kristen Holmes, Gloria Pazmino, Alayna Treene, CNN | |
Updated: | |
9:56 PM EDT, Fri September 5, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is putting up a fight, at least for now, | |
denying that he is planning to exit the race for mayor to take a job in | |
the Trump administration even as conversations are said to be | |
continuing about possible roles for the embattled first-term mayor. | |
Saying he wanted to speak “directly to New Yorkers,” Adams struck a | |
defiant tone standing in the backyard of Gracie Mansion on Friday, | |
saying he would continue to campaign towards the general election and | |
accusing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of working to push him out | |
of the race. | |
“Andrew Cuomo is a snake and a liar,” Adams told reporters. “I am | |
in this race, and I’m the only one that can beat Mamdani.” | |
Adams scheduled the last-minute remarks following multiple reports that | |
aides to President were working up a plan to offer him a job in the | |
administration as part of an effort to help clear the field for Cuomo. | |
The former governor is running in the race as an independent after | |
losing to democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in the June Democratic | |
primary. | |
Adams, the city’s second Black mayor who has cast himself as a | |
blue-collar executive who understands the struggles of working-class | |
New Yorkers, tried to appeal to voters directly, highlighting some of | |
the successes of his administration, including a drop in crime and low | |
unemployment. | |
“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.” | |
While he insists he is staying in the race, sources close to Adams have | |
acknowledged the situation has become untenable and warn that the | |
mayor’s position could change quickly. One source familiar with his | |
thinking said that Adams was coming to the grips with the idea that he | |
may only serve one term as mayor. The sources have also emphasized | |
Adams has not received a formal offer from Trump’s administration. | |
A spokesperson for the Cuomo campaign declined to comment. | |
Mamdani, asked by CNN’s Abby Phillip on Friday why he thinks Adams is | |
staying in the race, said, “I cannot speak to Eric Adams’ | |
motivations or his interests. I can just tell you that it’s been a | |
lot of noise these last few, few weeks.” | |
“And we’ve seen that this is the specialty of Donald Trump and his | |
puppets — a lot of noise, few results,” Mamdani added on | |
“NewsNight.” | |
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he believed the | |
mayor’s race against Mamdani could not be won if there were multiple | |
people in the field. He denied offering Adams an ambassadorship but | |
said he believed Cuomo would have a better shot at beating Mamdani, who | |
he referred to as a “communist.” | |
“He is free to do what he wants,” Trump said of Adams. “If it’s | |
not one-on-one it’s going to be a hard race.” | |
Adams met privately with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff | |
earlier this week to discuss potential opportunities to join the Trump | |
administration, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. | |
One of the possibilities is an ambassadorship, with countries in | |
discussions including Saudi Arabia, two people with knowledge of the | |
conversations told CNN. | |
Nothing has been finalized, the individuals cautioned, describing the | |
conversations as ongoing and extremely fluid. | |
“While I will always listen if called to serve our country, no formal | |
offers have been made. I am still running for reelection, and my full | |
focus is on the safety and quality of life of every New Yorker,” | |
Adams said Thursday in a statement. | |
Witkoff is one of Trump’s most trusted advisers. A source familiar | |
with their meeting noted that nothing was offered to Adams, but that | |
privately the president has indicated he would like to offer Adams a | |
role in the administration. The source also said that the meeting was | |
kept at a close hold even within the walls of the White House, and many | |
aides only learned through news reports Wednesday about the initial | |
outreach from Trump allies to Adams. | |
The New York Times first reported Witkoff and Adams’ meeting. | |
Adams leaving the race could potentially allow Cuomo to consolidate the | |
opposition vote to Mamdani, who Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary | |
but has elicited concerns from some top Democrats about . | |
Mamdani, in turn, has accused Cuomo of allying with Trump and | |
challenged the president to a one-on-one debate. | |
CNN’s Mark Morales and Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report. | |
This story has been updated with additional details. | |
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