NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Friday he would like to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
“If it’s possible for me to get there, I look forward to it,” the Democrat said during a local cable news interview. “If not, I will send my congratulations.”
The inauguration coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when New York’s political class unites to commemorate the civil rights leader. Adams, the city’s second Black mayor, attends events throughout the city on the federal holiday. Al Sharpton typically hosts an MLK celebration at his Harlem-based National Action Network, but this year will head to Washington, D.C., for a counter-programming march instead.
Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries are both planning to attend the inauguration as well.
The mayor’s interest in the event continues an approach to the incoming president that stands apart from most of his fellow party members — though Democrats at all levels of government are moving past prior outrage toward the combative Republican.
Adams — a moderate at odds with the left flank of his party — took a soft approach to Trump during the presidential campaign. He readily chastised President Joe Biden over immigration. And after Election Day, Adams hosted Trump’s border czar and indicated the incoming administration could have a hand rewriting local sanctuary city laws. Adams has also praised the appointment of Elon Musk to a government efficiency office.
The mayor argues his actions are in the best interest of New Yorkers.
“I look forward to governing with the incoming president,” he said Thursday. “As I stated, my job is not to be warring with him. My job is to be working with him.”
Adams is facing a five-count federal corruption indictment and Trump has said he would consider pardoning the mayor if he is convicted. As POLITICO has previously reported, there are several other ways the president-elect could help.
Adams is facing a tough path to reelection this year, and the closer he gets to Trump the more trouble it could cause him in a crowded Democratic primary, especially with his base.
“The flirting with Trump is not helpful for him in the Black community,” Sharpton told POLITICO in a recent interview. “If I was between a rock and a hard place and the only one that could deliver me is Donald Trump I would be preparing for my bye-bye.”