A little more than a week before the presidential election, Donald Trump is praising an unlikely politician — the Democratic mayor of New York City.
“I have to tell you, he’s been really great, and he said that they shouldn’t be calling Trump a dictator because it's not true that’s nice,” Trump said at his Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday. “We want to thank Mayor [Eric] Adams. He’s going through a hard time with these people.”
What You Need To Know
- Donald Trump on Sunday praised Mayor Eric Adams during his Madison Square Garedn rally
- Ahead of the rally, Adams refused to call Trump a fascist and defended Trump's right to hold a rally in the city
- Lately, Adams has refused to criticize or disavow Trump's support for him as the mayor remains under indictment
The comment came a day after Mayor Eric Adams refused to call Trump a fascist at a briefing on safety at the event.
“When people called me fascists and other terminologies, I didn’t like it. And I don’t think it's fitting for anyone to state that the former president is equal to being Hitler," Adams said at an unrelated conference Saturday.
They say politics can make for strange bedfellows and that seems to be the case for Trump and Adams.
The Republican nominee for president and the Democratic mayor have been kind to each other lately.
“I know what Hitler has done and I know what a fascist regime looks like. I think, as I’ve called over and over again at the level of conversation, I think we could all dial down the temperature," the mayor said.
Adams also pushed back against criticism over Trump holding a rally in the city.
“I’ve heard people say that the former president should not be able to have a rally at Madison Square Garden. I strongly disagree. This is America, this is New York, and I think it's important for people to exercise their right to get their message clear to New Yorkers," he said.
The mayor’s comments come as Trump has been showing support for Adams amid his indictment and Adams has been welcoming it.
Separately, tens of thousands of supporters attended the rally on Sunday, leading the city to have a police presence at the event that included NYPD's Chief of Patrol John Chell.
Chell, dressed in uniform, conducted on-air interviews at the event.
A City Hall spokesperson defended Chell’s actions, saying he was the incident commander for the rally and that he was addressing concerns about safety.
Despite Adams' defense of Trump, he has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
“Let’s have a safe, fair democratic process and show the globe how we’re able to do it correctly," Adams said.
