Mayor Adams, after taking a jab at Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s decision to take a trip to Uganda after “winning half an election” in a video released Thursday, said Friday he was joking and conceded politicians need a getaway every once in a while.
“People are going to travel, particularly after a race, a hard race, and we’re just making fun at him,” Adams, who’s running for re-election on an independent line, said in an interview on Fox5. “They’re going to make fun at me. This is going to be an exciting campaign.”
Adams, who has often caught flack for his own many trips abroad, added that after the November general election, he is thinking of taking a “nice vacation” to Italy.
“I love Pompeii, and Portofino is one of my favorite locations,” he said. “So, sometimes you just got to download. And that’s just the reality of this business.”
Barry Williams/ New York Daily News
Mayor Eric Adams campaigns in Chinatown on July 18. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
In the short-form video on Thursday, Adams made a tongue-in-cheek reference to his now-dismssed indictment on charges of taking illegal donations from Turkish nationals, suggesting he’d like to go on a trip to Istanbul or Ankara.
But he said he wouldn’t, because he has to run the city.
“I realized I’m not a wannabe mayor,” Adams says in the video. “I’m the actual mayor. I just can’t get up and leave. If I’m gone, there won’t be an Eric Adams keeping things under control.
“Somebody has to keep us safe and get stuff done,” he said.
Adams also took a jab at mayoral opponent Andrew Cuomo, musing that maybe the mayor could also write a book on “failed leadership.” The press also took a shot in the video, with the mayor suggesting if he weren’t around they “might actually need to report the news.”
Mamdani and his wife traveled to Uganda earlier this week to celebrate their recent marriage with family and friends, according to the campaign. Mamdani was born in the country.
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