Former Rep. Pete King says he has high hopes for New York City's new Democrat leader, incoming Mayor Eric Adams.
"I do believe, along with The New York Post and others, that there is a real potential for Eric Adams to turn the city around," the New York Republican said Friday on Newsmax's "National Report."
"Even in saying he's going to keep the [COVID-19 vaccine mandate], his tone is very different."
Further, Adams, a former Brooklyn borough president and New York City police officer, has spoken of bringing back the NYPD's anti-gun unit, standing up to Black Lives Matter, and more, said King.
"I'm hopeful two or three months from now that they'll be able to be a clear demonstration that the city has gone in a different direction," said King. "I if I lived in the city, and I lived there for many years; I grew up in the city, I wouldn't have voted for Eric Adams, but the fact is, I think of all the Democrats he was clearly the best."
King said he's had several conversations with Adams since he was elected and hopes he can turn the city around.
"As far as the mandate, I think he could have moved away from it more, but his tone was very, very different from [Bill de] Blasio's, and so I think they're a work in progress," said King.
The former congressman appeared on the program with New York City Councilman David Carr, who said he finds it "disappointing" that Adams is keeping the vaccine mandate.
"I think it's virtue signaling at its worse," said Carr. "It's essentially a toothless mandate, but it's a mandate that nonetheless infringes upon the rights of so many New Yorkers who are working in the private sector, and in my opinion does so illegally; and that's why you're starting to see lawsuits that are going to be filed or just recently been filed to stop this from coming into effect."
The councilman also downplayed de Blasio's comments upon leaving office, including that he's grown to love New York and its residents even more after having served as mayor.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," said Carr. "His eight years of administration and one-party Democrat rule in this city has been a total disaster for the five boroughs … he may love New York, but I don't think New York loves him back."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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