New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) defended former President Donald Trump from claims that he is a “fascist,” and called for people to “dial down the temperature” of political rhetoric.
During a press conference on Saturday, Adams was asked if he believes that Trump “is a fascist.” Adams responded by explaining that he knows what Adolf Hitler “has done” and that he knows “what a fascist regime looks like.”
Adams added that when people described him as being fascist he “didn’t like it,” and added that it was not “fitting to anyone to state that the former president is equal to being Hitler.”
“You know, I have been — had those terms hurled at me by some political leaders in the city using terms like Hitler and fascist,” Adams answers. “My answer is no. I know what Hitler has done, and I know what a fascist regime looks like. I think, as I’ve called over and over again, that the level of conversation we could all dial down the temperature.”
“I’ve heard people say that the former president should not be able to have a rally in Madison Square Garden,” Adams added, referring to Trump’s rally in New York City on Sunday. “I strongly disagree. This is America, this is New York. I think it’s important that we allow individuals who exercise their right to get their message clear to New Yorkers. Our job as a city, and as a police department is to make sure they can do that in a peaceful way. I think that we must be extremely cautious. The heat we turn up today, pre-election, is going to have to be the heat we’re going to have to govern in.”
As Breitbart News’s Wendell Husebo previously reported, Adams’ comments come as Vice President Kamala Harris recently referenced a hit piece from The Atlantic in order to “attack” Trump “for allegedly invoking” Hitler.
Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong reported that in The Atlantic’s report, the outlet “claimed that Trump had offered to help” pay for the funeral of deceased United States Army soldier Vanessa Guillen, but then “became angry” regarding the costs.
The outlet’s new report claimed that Trump had offered to help Guillén’s mother out with the costs of the funeral, but then eight months later during a December 4, 2020, Oval Office meeting, had asked about the costs. The Atlantic claimed, citing “attendees” and “contemporaneous notes” of the meeting taken by “a participant,” that an aide told Trump the funeral cost $60,000, to which the outlet claimed that Trump “became angry” and said, “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a fucking Mexican!” and turned to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and issued an order: “Don’t pay it!” the outlet claimed that Trump later in the day — according to a “witness” said, “Fucking people, trying to rip me off.”
The outlet also alleged that the former president had said, “I need the kind of general that Hitler had,” and cited “two people who heard him say this.”
Other Democrats such as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), the vice presidential running mate of Harris, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) have also described Trump as a “threat to democracy” and as a “fascist.”
During an interview with MSNBC, Newsom stated that it was not an overstatement to label Trump as a fascist.