Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee for the New York City mayoral race, is warning his party against adopting policies that are “so idealistic” that they are “not realistic.”
During an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Adams was asked what Democrats across the country should learn from his victory in the Democratic primary race.
“We can’t be so idealistic that we’re not realistic,” Adams answered. “Cities are hurting all across America, and New York personifies that pain — the inequalities, the gun violence, the lack of really looking after everyday blue-collar workers.”
He continued, “We have failed for so many years, and we’ve allowed the fallout of the Trump administration to have an overreach in philosophy and not on-the-ground, real issues that are facing everyday New Yorkers in America.”
Host George Stephanopoulos asked, “Is it fair to call you an anti-woke Democrat?”
“Some of us never went to sleep. That’s the problem. [I have] a 35-year record of fighting for reform, for public safety, a person who was arrested by police, assaulted by police, but also lost a childhood friend to gang violence, and so I never went to sleep. And people who have finally realized that there are issues out here believe that they can co-opt the entire Democratic agenda,” Adams said.
Watch the video below:
New York City mayoral nominee Eric Adams tells @GStephanopoulos: "We [Democrats] cannot be so idealistic that we're not realistic."
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 11, 2021
George: "Is it fair to call you an anti-woke Democrat?"
Adams: "Some of us never went to sleep." https://t.co/zw6gzexARs pic.twitter.com/Dv3S1jhYOy
Adams, who is a former New York City Police Department captain, clinched his party’s nomination for the city’s mayoral race last week.
As the race for the Democratic primary drew near, the city encountered a rise in shootings and homicides which shifted the focus of the race to public safety. Adams was the only one of the more than a dozen Democratic candidates who had a law enforcement background.
During the race, Adams said he opposed the “defund the police” movement. That phrase gained new attention after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis with activists calling for municipalities to redirect funds from police departments to other social services.
While some have seen Adams’ victory of a denunciation of the “defund the police” movement, New York Magazine notes that only one Democratic candidate committed to acting on the slogan if elected.
