Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, blasted GOP presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump’s historic rally at Madison Square Garden Sunday for what he says promoted “hateful words” from a guest speaker, despite the former president’s favorable shout-out to the mayor during the massive rally.
“And you know who I want to thank?” said Trump from the sold-out arena Sunday night. “Mayor Adams. Because Mayor Adams has been treated pretty badly. You know, when he said that this whole thing with the migrants coming into New York, this is just not sustainable. You know, we can’t do it. We’re trying to run a city and have 100,000 migrants coming. We can’t do it, we just can’t do it, it’s not feasible, it’s not good.”
“He said it very nicely,” continued Trump. “I said, ‘well, he’s going to be indicted by these lunatics for saying that.’ A year later, he got indicted.”
When Fox News Digital contacted Adams’ office about his reaction to Trump’s shoutout and inquired about whether the mayor agreed with Trump’s comments and overall reaction to the rally, Adams’ office directed Fox Digital to a post from Adams blasting the event for the use of “hateful words,” seemingly referring to a comedian who joked about Puerto Rico prior to Trump’s speech.
“The hateful words that were used by some at today’s rally at Madison Square Garden were completely unacceptable. No matter who says it, hate is hate, and there is no place for it in our city. As Americans, we always should stand up against racism, antisemitism, and misogyny,” posted Adams on X.
“Yesterday, ahead of today’s rally, I talked about how we all need to turn down the temperature that fuels hate and violence. I am once against renewing those calls,” added Adams. “The hateful words that were used by some at today’s rally at Madison Square Garden were completely unacceptable. No matter who says it, hate is hate, and there is no place for it in our city. As Americans, we always should stand up against racism, antisemitism, and misogyny.”
Host of the popular podcast Kill Tony, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, kicked off bipartisan backlash after he cracked a joke a few hours before Donald Trump took the stage at Madison Square Garden that Puerto Rico is a “floating island of garbage.”
“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the…ocean right now,” said Hinchcliffe. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
In response, the Trump campaign released a statement distancing itself and the former president from the remark.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” noted Danielle Alvarez, Trump’s campaign senior adviser, in a statement.
Hinchcliffe’s comedic background is rooted in roasting other comics and celebrities and joked at another point: “These Latinos, they love making babies, too. Just know that they do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country.”
The comedian brushed off Democratic outrage, as well as from a handful in the GOP, such as Republican Representative Carlos Gimenez of Florida, in an X post responding to Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz slamming the joke during a livestream.
“These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice-presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian, Tim…might be time to change your tampon,” posted Hinchcliffe.
Governor Walz and @AOC react to this clip: “When you have some a-hole calling Puerto Rico ‘floating garbage,’ know that that’s what they think about you. It’s what they think about anyone who makes less money than them…I want every Puerto Rican in Philadelphia and Reading and…”
NYC Mayor Adams slammed handling of immigration crisis by Biden-Harris admin
Last year, Mayor Adams slammed the handling by the federal government of the immigration crisis, calling on President Joe Biden to declare a state of emergency for the crisis, which Adams has since linked to the motivation behind his historic indictment for corruption last month.
“The immigration system in this nation is broken. It has been broken for decades. Today, New York City has been left to pick up the pieces. Since last year, nearly 100,000 asylum seekers have arrived in our city asking for shelter,” said Adams to reporters last year as busloads of immigrants were transported to the Empire State. “That’s almost the population of Albany, New York.”
“We are past our breaking point,” added the mayor. “New Yorkers’ compassion may be limitless, but our resources are not. And our partners at the state and federal levels know this.”
Mayor Adams is entangled in a corruption case after federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicted him on five corruption, fraud, and bribery charges last month. According to the 57-page indictment, Adams is accused of soliciting illegal campaign donations from foreign entities and falsifying paper trails in an attempt to cover up the fraud.
“I think they upgraded his seat in an airplane. That’s a very serious charge,” joked Trump of Adams’ charges during the event. “They’ve upgraded my seat a lot, too. I used to fly commercial. I don’t fly so much anymore, but they’d see me back there and sure, would you .ike an upgrade,” continued Trump. “I don’t know, maybe it’s something else.”
Despite no evidence indicating Adams was indicted over his previous immigration crisis remarks, he additionally blamed the corruption scandal on his comments that bucked the Democratic Party over immigration last year.
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target and a target I became,” said Adams last month. “Leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty.”
“Despite our pleas, the federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system. With no relief, I put the people of New York before party and politics,” said Adams.
Last week, Adams came to the defense of Trump amidst increasing claims from Trump critics — including Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris — that the 45th president is a “fascist,” similar to the dictator of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler.
“I have had those comments hurled at me by some political leaders in the city; my answer is ‘No,'” said Adams Saturday when asked about slams against Trump.
“I know what Hitler has done, and I know what a fascist regime looks like. I think, as I have called for over and over again, that the level of conversation, I think we can all dial down the temperature,” added Adams.
“I have to tell you he’s been really great, and he said they shouldn’t be calling Trump a dictator because it’s not true,” said Trump. “That’s nice…very nice.”
