Donald Trump found common ground with a Democrat at a New York City charity event on Thursday night, commiserating with the city’s deeply unpopular mayor, Eric Adams, who also faces a federal criminal indictment, over what Trump claimed was their victimization by a weaponized Justice Department.
In remarks at the Al Smith Dinner, Trump said, “I just want to be nice, because I know what it’s like to be persecuted by the DOJ for speaking out against open borders,” in reference to Adams, who was in attendance. “We were persecuted, Eric. I was persecuted, and so were you, Eric.”
Trump wished Adams “good luck,” as the mayor, sitting to the right of the podium, grinned.
“They went after you, mayor. Oh boy, I knew that, nine and a half months ago I said … ‘He just said something about it, about the administration, he’s going to be indicted any moment,’” Trump said, alluding to Adams’ criticism of President Joe Biden’s handling of the border. “And guess what happened? But you’re gonna win, I think you’re gonna win.”
Trump has often falsely claimed that the Biden administration has weaponized the Justice Department against him in order to hurt his presidential campaign. (Trump is charged with 44 felony counts in two separate federal cases related to his retention of classified documents and to his role in the Jan. 6 assault on Congress; he has pleaded not guilty.) Adams has also suggested, without evidence, that he was indicted on federal bribery and campaign finance offenses because he criticized Biden’s immigration policies. (Adams has also pleaded not guilty to all charges.) My colleague Ja’han Jones previously pointed out Adams’ strikingly Trumpian proclivities. With Adams becoming the city’s first sitting mayor to face a criminal indictment and in adopting one of Trump favorite lies in response, Trump is right to note that two men now have even more in common.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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