NYC Mayor Eric Adams likens self to Jesus at town hall event

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams likened himself to Jesus Christ during a town hall in Brooklyn last week and suggested people are "hating on" him because he has appointed so many minorities into positions of power.

"Look at this team, folks. Look at this team. Look at my, look at my deputy mayors!" he said, naming off Deputy Mayors Sheena Wright, Anne Williams-Isom, Meera Joshi, Ana Almanzar and Maria Torres-Springer.

Mayor Eric Adams shows off his diverse administration: "Have you ever seen this much chocolate leading the city of New York??!! This is why they hating on me!"

He then compares himself to Jesus for assembling such a non-White team. pic.twitter.com/AbhgylBBB2

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— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 6, 2024

"Have you ever seen this much chocolate leading the city of New York? And then go down the line. Look, look who's here. This is representative of the city. That's why people are hating on me," he continued.

The racial demographics of New York City are 30.9% white (non-Hispanic), 28.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% black or African American (non-Hispanic), 15.6% Asian and 0.2% Native American (non-Hispanic), according to the 2020 census.

Adams then went on to liken his appointment of minorities to Jesus cleansing the Temple of the moneychangers.

"How many of you go to church? Ma'am, this is a [Matthew 21:12] moment," he said. "Jesus walked in the Temple; He saw them doing wrong in the Temple."

"He turned the table over!" a woman said when Adams asked her to finish the story.

Adams said he also went to City Hall "to turn the table over," presumably by appointing the "first woman police commissioner of color, first Spanish-speaking police commissioner, first Spanish-speaking correction commissioner."

According to viral video of his remarks, Adams did not specify who he was talking about when he spoke of people "hating on" him, though his administration has been embroiled in the migrant crisis afflicting New York City, which has strained its resources and stoked frustration among many New Yorkers.

Texas has bused more than 33,600 migrants to New York City since August 2022, Gov. Greg Abbott said at the end of December. Adams has expressed anger at Abbott for inundating the city with migrants, but he has also placed blame on Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for not providing adequate resources and on President Joe Biden for his open-border policies.

Adams has also been faced with a rising crime crisis in the Big Apple, though the Democrat-run City Council recently overruled his veto of two bills regarding public safety, according to the New York Post.

Adams, who was raised in the Church of God in Christ but now attends mostly nondenominational services, identifies as a Christian and has been outspoken about his faith since becoming mayor in 2022 and establishing the City's Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships.

Last year, he made headlines when he maintained that it was a mistake to remove prayer from public schools, and later told CNN’s "State of the Union" host Dana Bash that he is unable to separate his faith from who he is as an elected official.

“What I believe is that you cannot separate your faith," he said at the time. "Government should not interfere with religion, and religion should not interfere with government. But I believe my faith pushes me forward on how I govern and the things that I do."