Mayor Eric Adams on Friday refused to rule out joining the Republican Party as he prepares for re-election in a crowded field of Democrats.
The Democratic mayor, who was a Republican from 1995 to 2002, gave no answers in two interviews.
“Have you ever thought about returning to the Republican Party?” Adams was asked during the first sit-in of the day. NY1 and.
“The most important political party to me is the American party,” Hizzoner said.
“I'm a member of the American Party. I love this country,” Adams said.
When asked in a subsequent interview, pix 11 Hitzoner sought to clarify his comments by stressing that no matter what political party he belongs to, “I want to support American values.”
Still, he said he plans to remain on the Democratic side for now.
“I'm going to run for re-election as a Democrat, but my focus is the American people and the people of New York City, and those who don't like that will cancel me, and I'll say 'cancel.' “Me,'' Adams said.
Unlike most Democrats, Adams has avoided criticizing Republican President-elect Trump and instead talked about working with the incoming White House administration, saying voters want their leaders to “stop bickering.” He said he was.
With Trump back in the White House, Adams also praised MAGA mogul Elon Musk's cost-cutting policies and said he wants to work with Republicans to deport immigrants suspected of crimes.
Adams is scheduled to meet with President Trump's border czar Tom Homan next week as the city prepares for a major shift in immigration policy.
If Adams changes parties again, he wouldn't be the first Big Apple mayor to do so.
Michael Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat before becoming a Republican and running for mayor in 2001.
He then became an independent in 2007 and re-registered as a Democrat in 2018.
Adams was indicted on federal corruption charges in September and is scheduled to go to trial in April.
Some experts have questioned whether Adams' pro-Republican motives could be a way to gain Trump's support and secure a presidential pardon once the next president takes office, a notion that Hizner told the Post. He has repeatedly refused to comment on questions.
Democrats who are running against Adams in the June primary were quick to react to his comments Friday.
“We need a mayor who has the courage to stand up for our city, not pick a fight with the president-elect,” progressive state Sen. Zellner Milley of Brooklyn said in a statement.
City Auditor Brad Lander quipped to voters that he was “in denial about turning Republican.”
Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos told X that she's glad the mayor is “finally being honest about being a Republican.”
“But then he should run alone and let the Democrats elect a real leader,” she said, citing the late former state Sen. Jose Peralta, who said it would be “to oust the Trump Democrats.” He added that this is not the first time. .
Meanwhile, Israel's opponent, Rep. Zoran Mamdani of Queens, said Adams' comments “serve his own narrow self-interest.”
Scott Stringer, who is considering a run for mayor, said pointedly that Adams' legal issues are “literally taking precedence over the priorities of New Yorkers.”
“The sad fact about this mayoralty is that the presidential pardon is considered his greatest accomplishment,” Stringer said.
