New York City Mayor Eric Adams slammed former President Donald Trump’s historic Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday for promoting “hateful words” from an invited guest speaker, despite Trump’s favorable shout-out to the mayor during the massive rally.
“And you know who I want to thank?” Trump said Sunday evening from the sold-out arena. “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, we got 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,” Trump continued. “I said, ‘well, he’s going to be indicted by these lunatics for saying that.’ A year later, he got indicted.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Adams’ office for reaction to the shoutout, inquiring if the mayor agreed with Trump’s comments and for reaction to the rally overall. Adams’ office directed Fox Digital to a post from the mayor lambasting the event for the use of “hateful words,” seemingly referring to a comedian who joked about Puerto Rico ahead of Trump’s speech.
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“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,” Adams posted 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 again renewing those calls,” he added.
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Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, host of the popular podcast “Kill Tony,” sparked bipartisan backlash after he cracked a joke hours ahead of Trump taking 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.” Hinchcliffe said. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
The Trump campaign released a statement distancing itself and Trump from the remark.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez noted in a statement, according to reports.
Hinchcliffe, whose comedic background is rooted in roasting celebrities and other comics, 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.”
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The comic brushed off outrage from Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, such as Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., in an X post responding to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 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,” Hinchcliffe posted.
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Last year, Adams slammed the federal government’s handling of the immigration crisis, calling on President Biden to declare a state of emergency for the crisis, which the mayor has since linked to the motivation behind his historic corruption indictment 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,” Adams told reporters last year as buses of immigrants were transported to the Empire State. “That’s almost the population of Albany, New York.”
“We are past our breaking point,” the mayor added. “New Yorkers’ compassion may be limitless, but our resources are not. And our partners at the state and federal levels know this.”
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Adams is embroiled in a corruption case after Manhattan federal prosecutors hit him with a five-count indictment on fraud, bribery and corruption charges last month. Adams is accused of soliciting illegal campaign donations from foreign entities and falsifying paper trails to cover it up, according to a 57-page indictment.
“I think they upgraded his seat in an airplane. That’s a very serious charge,” Trump joked 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 like an upgrade,” Trump continued. “I don’t know, maybe it’s something else.”
Despite no evidence Adams was indicted over his previous remarks on the immigration crisis, he also pinned blame for the corruption scandal on his comments bucking the Democratic Party over immigration last year.
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“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became,” Adams said 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,” he added.
Last week, Adams came to Trump’s defense amid increasing claims from Trump critics, including Vice President Kamala Harris, that the 45th president is a “fascist” and similar to Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler.
“I have had those comments hurled at me by some political leaders in the city; my answer is ‘No,’” Adams said Saturday when asked about the slams against Trump.
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“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,” he added.
Trump continued Sunday evening at his historic rally that Adams has been “really great,” citing Adams’ defense of Trump.
“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,” Trump said. That’s nice … very nice.”
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