Eric Adams vows to beat Mamdani amid rumors he'd drop out

"I want to be clear with you," Adams added. "Andrew Cuomo is a snake and a liar. I am in this race, and I'm the only one that can beat Mamdani.

"This is such a pivotal and important period, and we have to get it right," he added. 

"They were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Not like working-class New Yorkers. I'm a working-class New Yorker. They are not like us," he said. "They've never had to fight. They never had to struggle. They never had to go through difficult times like you and I had to go through, New Yorkers."

He took particular aim at Cuomo, accusing him of having "a career of pushing Black candidates out of races." 

He also addressed rumors that he is in discussions with President Donald Trump about possibly joining his administration. 

"There's a lot of reports that I'm in Washington on Monday. Those reports are wrong. I'm not," said Adams. "I'll be moving throughout this city in the five boroughs that made me mayor in the first place. I'm running for re-election, and I'm going to tell New Yorkers every day why I believe I should be the mayor of the city of New York in 2026."

He acknowledged that he is significantly behind Mamdani in the polls but dismissed this, saying, "I hear the polls. I hear the comments. I hear the pundits. 

"But those are the same polls that stated eight weeks out that Andrew Cuomo was up by 36 points, and even his poll had him up by 10 points. Those are the same polls that stated he was going to walk into becoming the mayor of the City of New York, [which] he believes is a consolation prize because he made the determination to step down [as governor]." 

"I'm running, and I'm going to beat Mamdani. And I'm going to continue the success that this city has witnessed," he said. 

"I committed myself and dedicated myself to a city that I love, and I'm going to continue to do that. This polo shirt that I'm wearing that says Eric Adams, Mayor of the City of New York, I'm going to wear that for another four years."