Mayor Adams told reporters Tuesday he didn’t ask for a speaking slot at this week’s Democratic National Convention and that there are no sour grapes between him and party leaders over the fact that he wasn’t offered one.
“You may say, ‘Well, don’t you want to take a more prominent role?’ No, I want [Vice President Kamala Harris] to win, that’s what I want her to do,” Adams said when asked about it at his weekly press conference at City Hall. The DNC, which started Monday in Chicago, runs through Thursday.
“Whatever it takes for her to win … there’s no ego,” Adams continued. “She’s running for president, and it is not my job to try to supersede her run for president like it’s about Eric. This is not the Eric show, this is her show, and that’s what I’m going to support.”
Adams is traveling to Chicago on Wednesday for the convention, where he has said he will meet with national leaders to talk about the migrant crisis, among other issues. At Tuesday’s press conference, he said he expects to have a full schedule while in the Windy City, where he will stay through Friday.
Adams, who used to call himself the “Biden of Brooklyn” and is the mayor of the country’s largest city, ended up on the outs with President Biden’s team last year after publicly blasting the president over his handling of an influx of mostly Latin American migrant crossing into the U.S. via the southern border — an issue Republicans have hit hard during the campaign.
Tens of thousands of the new arrivals have made their way to New York, where the mayor’s administration has housed many of them in city-run shelters to the tune of millions of dollars every month. The mayor lamented last year that the Biden administration wasn’t providing the city with more financial and logistical help to handle the migrant influx. Following his vocal criticism, Adams was removed from a list of official Biden reelection campaign surrogates.
In Chicago, Harris is expected to formally accept the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in a convention speech Thursday night, capping off a whirlwind series of events that began with Biden announcing last month he wouldn’t seek reelection and instead endorse her as his successor.
Several other high-profile New York Democrats, including Gov. Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, traveled to Chicago over the weekend to attend all four days of the DNC. Hochul delivered a speech to the convention Monday evening, as did Ocasio-Cortez. Schumer is scheduled to speak Tuesday evening.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have also both landed speaking appearances at the DNC.
Adams said he doesn’t believe his not getting a speaking spot at the DNC means New York City is being overlooked by national Democrats.
He also said he didn’t want to get involved in the jostling for speaking slots at the convention because there are “a lot of sharp elbows” from politicians who “want to be on that stage.”
“Sometimes,” he added, “it’s best just to be quiet.”
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