LEONARD GREENE: Mayor Adams' insults to ‘haters' make him sound like Trump

Yahoo

02-03-2025

When he talks about 'Mein Kampf' and dismisses his Black critics as 'Negroes' who need God's forgiveness, you know who Mayor Adams sounds like?
He sounds like Donald Trump.
Trump has made a political career out of insulting his adversaries and making up derisive nicknames for them. It got him elected to the White House. Twice.
It won't get Adams anywhere.
Adams sounded like Trump last year when he accused then-President Biden of siccing the U.S. Department of Justice on him, and he sounds like Trump right now.
Trump could afford to alienate large segments of the population because it endeared him to many others. It doesn't work that way in New York.
It also doesn't work that way if you're Black.
Yet, there was Adams last week cranking up the crass machine in response to critics who want him to step down or be removed over federal corruption charges he faces — and the White House's efforts to get them dropped.
First, he insulted Jews — though, probably inadvertently — with a reference to Adolf Hitler's autobiographical manifesto during a reelection rally at Brooklyn's Rehoboth Cathedral.
'I was listening to some of Dr. King's teachings,' Adams said, also invoking the name of civil rights leader, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 'And he talked about the book 'Mein Kampf.' He said if you repeat a lie long enough, loud enough people will believe it is true, and that's what you're seeing right now. This is a modern day 'Mein Kampf.''
That obviously didn't go over well with many of the city's Jewish leaders.
Then Adams addressed his Black critics, the ones who have also called for him to resign.
'This is a biblical moment,' during a Black History Month event at Gracie Mansion.'You know, when Jesus was on the cross, he said, 'God, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' All these Negroes who are asking me to step down, God forgive them. Are you stupid? I'm running my race right now.'
'You have to be stupid to try to stop me from running this race.' Adams added. 'It's a level of buffoonery that's going on that's spreading as fast as COVID.'
Adams' biblical reference comes from the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Luke. There, Jesus is sincerely praying for forgiveness for those who are crucifying him, saying that they did not fully understand the consequences of their actions.
He didn't mock them during the prayer.
Adams, on the other hand, derisively referred to his Black critics as 'Negroes.'
And in this forgiveness scenario, who is it on the cross? Is it Adams? And does he really think he's being crucified?
Blaspheme much? I wouldn't want to be in City Hall when the lightning strikes.
The irony here is that Adams, despite the unfortunate rhetoric, is correct.
Calls for him to resign or be removed by Gov. Hochul are absurd, especially without anything even close to a conviction.
And if voters think Adams sold out the city, and cut a deal with Trump to stay out of jail, then they can remove him from office themselves. The Democratic primary is only a couple of months away, and there are plenty of alternatives.
Not that Adams seems worried.
'Competition's part of it,' he said during a visit last week to the Chelsea Career and Technical High School in SoHo. 'There were so many haters. But as I look out over my life, my haters are now my waiters at the table of success.
'I don't care about all these people who are in the race. I got the crown. They're trying to get the crown that I have.'
Haters. A crown. Does that sound like someone you know?