Mayor Eric Adams is reportedly avoiding President Biden during his visit to New York City this week, as the relationship between the two Democrats has been damaged due to the migrant crisis.
Adams’ packed schedule Monday included sitting down with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to discuss strategies to combat gun violence, welcoming Sierre Leone President Julius Maada Bio to talk about ties to New York City’s growing African community and meeting with Seoul, South Korea Mayor Oh Se-hoon to sign a so-called ‘Sister Cities Agreement.’ He also participated in a roundtable with Pakistani leaders, but Adams scheduled no time to meet with Biden, Politico reported.
Biden is expected to address the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday morning. Adams was invited but likely will not attend Biden’s campaign fundraiser or reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter told Politico.
The mayor’s public schedule Monday also did not say Adams would attend two other campaign receptions Biden was expected to attend, one with Black business leaders and a second featuring Broadway headliners, according to the outlet.
‘It just means that the two of them are trying to avoid exacerbating an already tense situation,’ a City Hall adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Politico. White House aides told the outlet that no meeting between Adams and Biden was on the agenda during the New York visit.
‘You know I don’t do those private conversations,’ Adams said Monday, dodging a reporter’s question about whether he attempted to meet with Biden while the president was in town.
‘We always look forward to any conversation that can help deliver the critical support and relief that asylum seekers, longtime New Yorkers and all Americans deserve,’ Adams’ spokesperson added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the mayor’s office for comment, but neither immediately responded.
The current situation is a stark contrast to this time last year when Adams and Biden were seen together at Democratic fundraiser and at the United Nations General Assembly’s marquee reception. Adams and Biden reportedly have not been seen together since January, during the president’s visit to New York regarding his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Hudson Tunnel train project.
Adams, who once dubbed himself the ‘Biden of Brooklyn,’ has been increasingly critical of the federal government’s handling of the migrant crisis, as he demands the Biden administration grant work authorization and other aid to the approximately 110,000 migrants who have arrived in New York City so far.
‘If we don’t receive help from the federal government and additional help from the state government, then this is going to come from somewhere, and it’s going to hurt low-income New Yorkers,’ Adams said during an appearance on MSNBC Sunday evening.
