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- Eric Adams was indicted on 5 criminal charges but denies wrongdoing in language that mirrors Trump.
- The mayor says the criminal case is "based on lies" and related to his criticism of Biden.
- Trump expressed support for Adams during a press conference on Thursday.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams' indictment may be unprecedented, but his rhetoric isn't. In his staunch denial of any wrongdoing, Adams is sounding eerily similar to another politician: former President Donald Trump.
A federal grand jury indicted Adams on criminal charges, including bribery and receiving illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals, making him the city's first mayor to be indicted while in office. The indictment, which was unsealed Thursday, alleges he accepted $100,000 worth of luxury travel in exchange for political favors to Turkish officials. He pleaded not guilty to the charged Friday. If convicted, he faces up to 45 years in prison.
Adams, a Democrat, is remaining defiant against a growing chorus of New Yorkers calling on him to resign. He's borrowing Trump's favored narratives of lies and fraud from the federal government, all while invoking his own strength.
In a video released before the indictment, Adams appeared to blame the justice department for leaks and rumors he said were an attempt to try to make him seem guilty.
"These charges will be entirely false, based on lies. But they would not be surprising," he said in the video, which appeared to be filmed at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's residence. "I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became."
Trump is an expert in lashing out at prosecutors and has been doing so for years — his mentor, Roy Cohn, perfected the "attack, attack, attack" strategy. As a businessman, presidential hopeful, president, and now candidate once more, Trump has gone after just about every local, state, and federal prosecutor he's encountered.
He's called Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis a "phony." He's called special counsel Jack Smith "deranged" and a "psycho," even going after Smith's wife.
The former president has taken Cohn's "attack" directive and turned it into a lucrative stream of funds for his 2024 campaign. Trump and his allies have argued the cases pending against him are all politically motivated "lawfare" and directed by President Joe Biden, even when there's no evidence to support such claims. Some of the biggest fundraising days of Trump's campaign have been related to his criminal indictments. His campaign has proudly plastered a mug shot, an image that would have ended campaigns a generation ago, on all sorts of merchandise.
Beyond painting themselves a victim or "target," Trump and Adams struck a similar tone another topic: immigration. The former president has made immigration a cornerstone of his campaign and frequently knocks how the Biden-Harris administration has handled the border.
For more than a year, Adams, too, has sharply criticized Biden for failing to help New York City provide services to an influx of immigrants. Now, he is insinuating that he's paying the price for that criticism.
"I have been facing these lies for months, since I began to speak out for all of you and their investigation started," Adams said. He promises to continue fighting the allegations and prove his declared innocence.
Trump echoed the mayor's unfounded claim that the charges are related to his critiques of Biden's immigration policies. At a press conference in New York City on Thursday afternoon, Trump defended Adams and praised the mayor's immigration stance.
Certainly, it didn't help the White House to have the leader of the nation's largest city come after the president over his most vulnerable issue, but Adams is far from the only Democrat to do that. New York's own governor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, called for federal action on immigration and still earned herself a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention. Sen. Mark Kelly, another Democrat, has lamented the situation in his border state. Rather than punish him, Vice President Kamala Harris came close to making him her vice presidential pick.
Yet on Thursday, Trump doubled down on the notion that federal lawsuits function as retribution. He said that he correctly predicted Adams would be indicted within the year and expressed support for the mayor.
"I don't know the mayor well, but he's been fairly generous to me in his statements," Trump said before eventually wishing him well.