Will Mayor Adams of New York City switch parties? He’s tapdancing around the question with a skill worthy of a Broadway hoofer. The possibility is tantalizing for President Trump — once a Democrat like Mr. Adams — and could advance his GOP support straight into the heart of Gotham.
Two of Mr. Adams’s predecessors, Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg, were Democrats who flipped to run on the Republican line. The current mayor took the reverse route to Gracie Mansion. He was a registered Republican between 1995 and 2002, then elected as a Democrat in 2021.
Winston Churchill, who crossed the aisle to the Liberal Party from the Conservatives and back again, joked about the serpentine course he’d taken. “Anyone can rat,” he said, “but it takes a certain amount of ingenuity to re-rat.”
In two interviews on Friday morning, Mr. Adams showed the requisite political dexterity. Asked about switching parties a second time, he struck an independent pose. “I’m a part of the American party,” he said. “I love this country.”
Hours later, PIX11 again asked Mr. Adams about his allegiance. Out came the tap dancing shoes and he performed the same dance with a more unifying tone. “No matter what party I’m on or vote on,” he said, “I’m going to push for American values.”
Supporters of the “Make America Great Again” mission offer hosanas for such rhetoric and welcome like-minded Democrats to ride the Trump Train. Tesla’s owner, Elon Musk. The Democrat dynasty scion, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. They’ve all crossed the tracks.
President Trump, Politico wrote in August, “is one person Adams curiously resists criticizing as his party faces a pitched battle for the White House.” At the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Trump offered warm words for the mayor and excoriated the federal case against him.
“I don’t like what they do,” Trump said of President Biden’s Department of Justice. Turning to Mr. Adams, he predicted, “But you’re going to win.” When the president-elect named Mr. Musk to co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency, the mayor sent praise his way, too.
Mr. Adams called Mr. Musk “one of the people I think it was important to bring on board” for the Trump administration, and endorsed his MAGA mandate. “We’re dealing with an antiquated government filled with bureaucracy,” the mayor said, “unwilling to make any changes.”
As other Democratic mayors vow to block Trump from deporting criminal foreign nationals, Mr. Adams has said he’ll comply with federal law. “I’m not going to be warring with this administration,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday. “I’m going to be working with this administration.”
Such talk is heresy to the left and drew broadsides from Mr. Adams’ opponents in the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary. A spokeswoman for one rival, Andrew Yang, called the then-Brooklyn borough president “a gun-toting Republican celebrated by the likes of Tucker Carlson.”
Those attacks, which failed to hobble Mr. Adams four years ago, now help his chances of earning a presidential pardon. So does the fact that the mayor, like Trump, refused to slink away in the face of prosecution. He remains defiant, committed to running for reelection next year.
Mr. Adams, a former NYPD captain, is demonstrating the bravado Trump admires. “Damn the torpedoes,” as Admiral David Farragut exclaimed during the Battle of Mobile Bay, “full speed ahead.” A president who praises “fighters” and loathes the “weak” can’t help but be impressed.
A win by Mr. Adams on the Republican line would boost Trump’s mandate, which he’ll need as a lame duck. Along with the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, the contest in New York is held one year after the presidential showdown.
How the party of the incumbent president fares in those three races is seen as a referendum on his first year. They’re also bellwethers for his prospects in the midterms. Losing even one seat would flip the House of Representatives to Democrats in 2026 if the current balance of power endures.
Even the best dancers can’t tap forever, but Mr. Adams doesn’t appear weak in the knees yet. He’s making the most of his moment, confounding Democrats while thrilling Republicans — including Trump — who hope he’ll channel his inner Churchill and find the ingenuity to re-rat.