NEW YORK CITY–Mayor Eric Adams made a last-minute trip to Washington on Thursday to attend the National Prayer Breakfast, adding to suspicions that the mayor may be joining the Trump camp.
Pastor Mark Burns, who was endorsed by Trump for Senate, said on social media platform X that he was hosting Adams at the event. He posted a photo of himself and Adams at the breakfast with the message, “Honored to host my friend NYC Mayor Eric Adams once again here at The National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC as World leaders, including President Trump, come together to pray not just for America but the World.”
Adams also sat with Burns at the Presidential Inauguration.
Adams wrote in a post on X, “It was an honor to join the National Prayer Breakfast in DC this morning, where we all came together in prayer for our nation, our leaders, and the world.”
Presidents have a long tradition of speaking at the bipartisan breakfast, and Trump was no exception. The media gave special attention to his announcement of creating a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias.”
The New York mayor had not previously attended this event, although President Joe Biden spoke there several times during Adams’s administration.
To attend Trump’s inauguration, Adams canceled scheduled MLK Day appearances, for which he was criticized by Democrats inside and outside of New York.
“He made it very clear that Eric Adams cares more about a pardon than the people. It’s absolutely unacceptable that he is celebrating the legacy of Trump, as opposed to the legacy of King,” Democratic mayoral contender Michael Blake said.
Adams has emphasized having a good and open relationship with the new president. The mayor refused to criticize several of Trump’s actions that other members of the Democratic Party have condemned, such as the pardoning of the Jan. 6 prisoners and the recent tariffs.
Trump has said he'd “look at” pardoning Adams, who is facing corruption charges.
“I think he was treated pretty unfairly,” he said, suggesting that Adams could be the target of a weaponized justice system.
Adams has stated that none of his meetings, including one with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, a few days before the inauguration, were for the purpose of getting a pardon.
