"This is not a socialist country, let’s be clear on that," Adams, a Democrat, told Maher Friday evening. "This is a country that believes in giving people the opportunities [so] that they will be able to succeed and excel in this country."
His remarks followed an announcement earlier this week at a campaign event when he said he was running against a Democratic Socialists of America "movement."
"I’m no longer running against candidates. I’m running against a movement. All across the country, the DSA socialists are mobilizing to stop Eric Adams," he told a crowd in Queens on Monday evening.
"They realize that if I’m successful, we’re going to start the process of regaining control of our cities."
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He explained later that the remarks were not aimed at the famous socialist lawmaker, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, uey admitted they "gave the appearance that there was a personal attack on Alexan … Congresswoman Cortez."
"Her name was never mentioned by me," Adams stated, according to the New York Post.
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The former NYPD captain continued on Maher’s show that he will run to "rebuild that trust" between the police and the community, following Democratic lawmakers across the nation, including Ocasio-Cortez, calling for departments to be defunded in the wake of George Floyd’s death last Memorial Day.
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"I am going to have the backs of my officers but they are going to have the backs of the people of this city they swore to serve and protect," he stated.
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"We see what’s happening in America. We see the demonization of public safety, which I believe is the prerequisite to prosperity," he said. "We see the demonization of those who are high-income earners."
The Brooklyn borough president has often recalled how he was arrested and beaten by police officers when he was just 15, an ordeal he said inspired him to join the force.
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Maher, who announced he quickly became a big fan of Adams as he pulled ahead and won the democratic primary, questioned Adams if he is able to address more “common sense” matters than his white democratic colleagues, who Maher stated “are so afraid of being called insufficiently anti-racist.”
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Adams responded stating he doesn’t want New Yorkers to “surrender” to problems like rising crime and racial division.
“We don’t have to define ourselves by three-year-olds being shot in Times Square. We don’t have to define ourselves [by] dividing ourselves on ethnicity,” he said.
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