Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams called Republican opponent Curtis Sliwa a “mini-me” of former President Donald Trump and a “clown” on Thursday, the day after a toned-down first general election debate.
During a morning appearance on NY1, Adams insisted he isn’t treating his likely succession of Mayor Bill de Blasio as a “formality,” claiming that he puts a lot of effort into the campaign and vowed not to allow his GOP opponent to pull off an upset in the heavily Democratic Big Apple.
“I’m not taking anything for granted, but I’ll let them know that we’re not going to make the mistake we made when Donald Trump became president, we’re not going to elect the mini-me of Donald Trump,” said Adams, the Brooklyn borough president.
“To be clear, this is a man that faked a kidnapping. That’s unacceptable that he thinks he can become mayor of the city of New York,” he added. “I’m not gonna let that happen in my city.”
Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder, has said he did not vote for Trump, declaring last year that he “hates Trump.”
On Thursday morning, Adams again compared Sliwa’s campaign to a “circus,” and tagged him as the “clown.”
“We know Curtis is a clown, and New York City is not a circus,” he said. “Not only is he not funny, but he’s dangerous.”
On Wednesday evening, during the first of two general election matchups before voters head to the polls on Nov. 2, Sliwa repeatedly tied Adams to “teammate,” “partner,” and “ally” de Blasio. In return, the former NYPD captain and state senator portrayed Sliwa as a fabulist who engaged in “buffoonery,” but repeatedly declined to respond to his rival’s attempted provocations.