NYC Mayor Eric Adams says he won't quit the race and is the only one who can beat Mamdani

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NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Friday that he won't succumb to pressure to end his reelection campaign and insisted he is the only candidate strong enough to beat the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani.

Adams declared his intention to stay in the race at the end of a fraught week that began with a trip to Florida, where Trump administration intermediaries sought to assess his willingness to quit the race to take a job with the federal government.

Earlier Friday, Adams appeared to leave the door open to a departure, releasing a statement saying he “will always listen if called to serve our country” but adding he had not yet received any “formal offers.”

Hours later, he summoned reporters to the mayor’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, to slam that door back shut.

“I am in this race. And I am the only one who can beat Mamdani," Adams said.

“How many times have I been told throughout this journey to step aside, to surrender, to give up, to give in,” he said. “That’s the same thing we tell everyday New Yorkers. Everyday New Yorkers are not giving up, are not giving in, are not surrendering, so their mayor is not going to do that.”

Adams dismissed Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, both fellow Democrats, as “two spoiled brats” who are “not like us," then walked off as a throng of reporters shouted questions.

Trump has told reporters he would prefer not to have Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, as New York's next mayor, but believed it was inevitable unless two of the three other major candidates in the race dropped out. Besides Cuomo and Adams, Republican Curtis Sliwa is also on the ballot.

Moments after Adams’ announcement, Trump was asked about it by reporters at the White House.

“He’s free to do what he wants,” Trump said of Adams, but he added that Adams staying in the contest might help cement a Mamdani victory.

“Cuomo might have a chance of winning if it was one-on-one," Trump said. "If you have more than one candidate running against (Mamdani), it can’t be won.”

During a trip to Florida this week, Adams met with Steve Witkoff, a former real estate developer in New York who is now one of Trump’s main diplomatic envoys in Washington, said Adams' campaign spokesperson, Todd Shapiro. It was unclear what specifically was discussed.

Adams skipped the Democratic primary, saying he was sidelined from campaigning after he was indicted last year on bribery charges. Trump's Justice Department then dropped the criminal case, saying it was distracting Adams from helping with the president's immigration crackdown.

In an interview, former Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson said he spoke with the mayor Wednesday morning. Adams told him he wanted to remain in the race but had received offers, Paterson said.

“He said, ‘Listen, they say I have some offers. I have a lot of offers.’ Then he started laughing. And he was saying that, you know, he really doesn’t want to leave and he’s trying to work that out so he doesn’t have to,” said Paterson, who has endorsed Adams for reelection. “He didn’t get specific about it, but I got that in his heart of hearts, he really wants to stay. But I also got that, even though he didn’t say it, that the odds can’t be very good."

Mamdani won the Democratic nomination after soundly defeating Cuomo in the primary. He could be a heavy favorite in the general election if Cuomo and Adams split the centrist vote and most Republicans vote for Sliwa.

“Through the collusion and corruption of the past few months, our relentless focus on the affordability crisis — created by Andrew Cuomo and inflamed by Eric Adams — has not wavered," Mamdani said in a statement Friday. “November, we’re going to deliver a city working New Yorkers can afford and turn the page on the broken, billionaire-backed politics of the past.” ___

Izaguirre reported from Albany, New York. AP writers Seung Min Kim and Michelle L. Price contributed from Washington.