With his political future in doubt, Eric Adams, the Democratic mayor of New York City, has opened the door to returning to the Republican Party.
Mr. Adams, a former police officer who was a registered Republican in the 1990s, has shocked some Democrats lately by embracing President-elect Donald J. Trump and some of his policies.
When Mr. Adams was asked in a television interview on Friday if he would consider becoming a Republican again, he did not rule it out.
“The party that’s most important for me is the American party — I’m a part of the American party,” he said on NY1. “I love this country.”
When Mr. Adams was asked to clarify his comments in another interview, he said that he was planning to run for re-election as a Democrat, but: “No matter what party I’m on or vote on, I’m going to push for American values.”
The mayor briefly greeted Mr. Trump at a sports event at Madison Square Garden last month. He has also praised the cost-cutting agenda of Elon Musk, whom Mr. Trump has tapped for a government efficiency initiative, and said that he wants to work with Mr. Trump to deport immigrants who have been accused of crimes.
Mr. Adams was indicted in September on federal corruption charges and is expected to go on trial in April. Some have questioned whether his behavior is part of a campaign to get a presidential pardon from Mr. Trump after he takes office.
It has quickly become a riveting possibility in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by six to one. The Democrats running against Mr. Adams in the primary next June immediately pounced on his comments.
Zellnor Myrie, a progressive state senator from Brooklyn, said that the city needed a mayor who was not scared to call himself a Democrat.
“Instead of playing footsie with the next president, we need a mayor with the courage to stand up for our city,” he said.
Jessica Ramos, a progressive state senator from Queens, said: “I don’t mind Mayor Adams finally being honest about being a Republican, but then he should just run as one and let the Democrats pick a real leader.”
Other Democrats expressed frustration. Representative Dan Goldman of New York said he was “concerned that the mayor may be letting his personal interests interfere with his job running the city.” He added that New Yorkers deserve a mayor who is “not distracted by his criminal case.”
Mr. Adams has denied any personal motivation in his positive stance toward Mr. Trump and his team and said that he genuinely agreed with them on some issues.
Mr. Adams has received criticism from Democrats for years for governing to the right of many in his party. The mayor has taken more conservative positions on immigration, stop-and-frisk policing, rent increases on rent stabilized apartments, and budget cuts to libraries and other popular programs.
The mayor’s allies argue that Mr. Adams has similar views to many New Yorkers, and they point to a rightward shift among city voters in the November election as validation of his politics. Mr. Adams has also criticized the left wing of his party as out of touch and said that having a productive relationship with the Trump administration would benefit the city.
Mr. Adams, who was on television on Friday to promote a major housing proposal that was recently approved, said he was not worried about negative headlines about his ideological fluidity. He repeated a new catchphrase — “Cancel me” — that appeared on the cover of The New York Post this week.
“Those who don’t like it, they will cancel me,” he said on Pix11 on Friday. “I say: Cancel me. I’m for America.”
The mayor has criticized the Biden administration’s handling of an influx of more than 200,000 migrants into the city in recent years. He has called for a crackdown on immigrants accused of crimes and plans to meet next week with Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar who has called for mass deportations.
The mayor’s position has alarmed some immigration groups. Mr. Adams said on Pix11 that he was “looking forward to having a partner in Washington, D.C., that understands we have to secure our borders.”
“I’m not for mass deportation, but I’m not for mass saturation,” he said.
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