← Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
Interview Only: Part Two: Stephen A's compelling sit-down interview with embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
00:25:15
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- [00:00]
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- [00:35]
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- [01:07]
Stephen A. Smith
Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith Show. Here with his honor himself, the mayor of New York City, Mr. Eric Adams. I want to get into a subject and I want to be very, very unapologetic and transparent about where I'm going black man to black man about the state of our two party system and what kind of impact you believe that has had on the black community, particularly in recent memory, even compared to a few years ago to a decade ago to before that.
- [01:40]
Eric Adams
Right. Well, first of all, we should be after the election. It should be about building up our communities and our cities in our country. You know, when people say, well why are you sitting down with Donald Trump? Dr. King wanted to sit down with Nixon. You know when you pull into purchase something for your family, they don't ask if you're a Democrat or Republican. When a bullet carve a highway of death in your community and it hits someone, it's not a Democrat or Republican. Obama said it right after the election. We must transform into the United States. The election is intramural. There's no reason we're holding these grudges. Every four years we say who's the one up? And I'm gonna take my ball and go home. No, I am very consistent on who I am and making sure that I'm willing to sit down and communicate with anyone. And I'm an open book brother. There's never a time, even when you talk to my team, they never will say you can't touch that subject area. I'm an open book. I have an authentic life. And I think as black men we need to look into who is understanding Our issues and agenda.
- [02:51]
Stephen A. Smith
Just recently, I spoke up on behalf of Snoop Dogg and Soulja Boy and Nelly as well. And the only reason I spoke up for them was on this level. People were going off about them performing at the Crypto Ball, and it was supposed to be a part of the inauguration celebration, and Donald Trump was supposed to be there, but he wasn't there. And I'm like, so what? At the end of the day, you know what? You're making a little paper. Somebody's gonna pay you six figures for one night's work. Everybody says it's not just about the money. It's not just about the money. But I'm thinking along these lines. This is our problem. We have politicians alluding to him being a racist, comparing him to Nazis and stuff like that, right? But then I'm supposed to expect you to go out and do business with this man and to legislate policy within this country. And then I'm thinking about people in the media. I'm not gonna say any names about them right now, but they called him everything but the child of God. And then all of a sudden, they're going to mar a lago to kiss the ring. And I'm like, you wouldn't have had to do that if you didn't go that far and you just judged on the issue instead of personalizing and engaging in incendiary content. For some reason, we don't seem to get that message nearly enough, especially as a community. Am I wrong in feeling that way?
- [04:03]
Eric Adams
No, you are dead on. And that is why we have to find our own space and not allow people to identify our space. And we need to look at and do something that's really revolutionary. We need to start reading. Look at the real data. Don't just look at the headline. Don't just flip through the Instagram, the TikTok, or the quick Twitter post. Sit down and say, let me do some real research on this. The issues that are impacting us. Because you can't have generation after generation of different administrations, but we're still going through the same hell. Why are we going through the same hell? Archbishop Desmond Tutu had a quote that lives with me. We spend a lifetime pulling people out of the river. No one goes upstream and prevent them from falling in in the first place. Poverty is profitable. And then when you look at who we're pulling out of the river, they look like you and I. People are making paper off of the dysfunctionality of government, and there's no real desire to change stuff. There's no Real. You look across the country and see black and brown people who are reading at grade level, look at the unemployment level, look at the incarceration level. It's the same across the country. So either we born with some biological dysfunctionality, or there's a profit in making sure we don't change these issues.
- [05:21]
Stephen A. Smith
I want to hold both sides accountable.
- [05:23]
Eric Adams
Yes.
- [05:23]
Stephen A. Smith
I want to look at both sides and say, you know what? It's been a binary system for decades. Both you parties have been in charge of our government. And look at the regression that has taken place within our nation. But then it took a step further, because when we get back to your point about how you never left the Democratic Party, you felt like the Democratic Party left you. I voted for Kamala Harris. I wasn't excited about it. I'll be the first to admit it. I just didn't like the divisiveness and the chaos that Trump had in his first administration. And I didn't want a repeat of that in round two. So my thinking was, if you got a Democrat in the White House, but you got Republicans in the House and the Senate, somehow people would be forced to compromise and things could get done. And I look at it in the aftermath of it all, and I'm saying to myself, wait a minute, we saw a president that clearly, I'll say it, there was slippage. You knew that. But you put him. You avoided the primaries. You made sure he showed up on a debate stage on June 27th. He wasn't ready. It was too late for anybody else. So Kamala Harris gets inserted in there, and on Judgment Day, which was election Day, the voters said, we didn't fall for it. We didn't fall for it. And the Democratic Party, to me, is still chirping as if it's the campaign trail, not recognizing that this man is in office, and you're going to have to deal with them. How could we expect anybody to deal with Donald Trump if, as a Democrat, folks are still out there spewing the same old rhetoric?
- [06:44]
Eric Adams
You know what? We need to start talking about governing right now. And then you look at a mayor of the largest city in America that makes a determination. I'm going to sit down and not war with the president, but work with the president. And people are trying to figure out why. I have a city to run with real issues around affordability and housing. And we have been successful in spite of what we're going through, brother, in year one and year two, we broke records in individual years on how much housing we built. We broke Records on how many people we moved from homelessness into permanent housing, how many people used to subsidize vouchers for housing. We've been breaking records after records after records. And with the help of Washington D.C. we could go even further.
- [07:28]
Stephen A. Smith
What about people who say, Mr. Mayor, you're engaging in an exercise in futility? Because look at this man, he doesn't really care. This is what I'm just saying. It's not me saying, no, no, no, no. Their attitude is he doesn' look at him. He immediately got rid of, you know, trying to get rid of DEI programs. Look at him. Look at who he surrounded himself with. These black folks, these minorities that have supported him. How many does he actually have in his cabinet? Look at him. It's Elon Musk for X, it's Fred, it's Mark Zuckerberg for Facebook and Meta and all of this other stuff. It's TikTok now. So he's insulated himself with, with media arms or information disseminating arms that can insulate him from the level of scrutiny. Mr. Mayor, aren't you wasting your time even trying to communicate with this man? What do you say to that?
- [08:16]
Eric Adams
First of all, I'm an Elon Musk guy. I love the technology, I love what he's doing. I think this cat is going to put us on Mars before we know it and all the secrets that are in our universe. So I believe in what he's doing. But think about it. We're saying, look at him and what he's doing and surrounding himself with. But then you get a straight up South Jamaica, Queens street cat that's able to sit down, that he's willing to pick up the phone and say, let's sit down and talk. And you want to demonize that action. So we can't have it both ways. You can't look at. Well, he's surrounding himself with a lot of billionaires. And now you get this straight up blue collar mayor, that he's saying, eric, let's sit down and let's have a conversation. And you want to demonize that also some people enjoy the emotions that's attached with misery. And no matter what they see, brother, they going to say woe is me. You know, I could have said woe is me when I was arrested as a child, but I became a cop. I could have said woe is me because I have a learning disability I learned about in college, but I pushed through and became the mayor of the city of New York. So you can easily sit back and look at your circumstances and say, I would never do it. Or you can use your circumstances to build your character and make it happen.
- [09:27]
Stephen A. Smith
Do you believe Donald Trump is interested in helping New York City citizens?
- [09:31]
Eric Adams
Yes, I do. The president loves New York. He made his prosperity here in this city. I believe he understands how important New York is for the country. We're the economic engine for the entire country. And I think that this is a great opportunity to look at some of the things that we need to do here in the city. And I'm going to continue to engage with him. I'm going to try. And this is not unique. Let's understand something. When President Biden won, I went to see him before being elected mayor, and I talked with him about the crime issues we were seeing in our city. He was able to appoint the 18.
- [10:07]
Stephen A. Smith
And he loved talking to you until you highlighted the migrant crisis and how it was debilitating New York city.
- [10:14]
Eric Adams
It took 10 trips to Washington, D.C. so it wasn't as though when he got elected, the same thing I'm doing with this president, I did with President Biden. He came to the city to sit down with me and the police department to talk about the issue of the day, which is public safety. So this is not new. You know, I have sat down with gang leaders. I've sat down with people who are my staunch critic. If we don't communicate, how the hell are we going to ever hear the other sides of issues?
- [10:41]
Stephen A. Smith
How desperate does New York need the federal government's assistance?
- [10:45]
Eric Adams
Brother, it's unbelievable what we need from the federal government, all that. You see the billions of dollars we send back to the federal government. There's a lot we don't get back. And it's imperative. Everything from our educational funding. You look at many of the grants that allow us to do infrastructure building. When you look at our law enforcement issues, the laws that are coming out of Washington, we need the federal government. If you don't have a partner in the federal government, it is going to make it challenging for you to carry out the functionalities of running a city like New York.
- [11:17]
Stephen A. Smith
One of the things that Donald Trump is making a lot of noise about is the executive orders that he handed down, the inordinate amount of executive orders that he's handed down just his first couple of days in office. Which one has stood out to you the most?
- [11:32]
Eric Adams
All of them. We have to still study. You know, people are questioning me on executive orders, and I say, damn it, the ink is not even dry. Let me read it.
- [11:40]
Stephen A. Smith
Because he could sign an Executive order. But that don't mean it's gonna. That doesn't mean you're not going to have to deal with the government. Congress, for example. They got a lot of stuff to.
- [11:47]
Eric Adams
Work through, and some may come with lawsuits, some maybe may come with challenges. But I think the spirit of what he's saying, and you know, and I've been saying this over and over again, this is the greatest country on the globe. You know, no other country has dream attached to its name but America, the American dream. During the migrants and asylum seeker crisis, I went to South America and watched people walk thousands of miles through the Darien Gap, putting their life on the line, all because they wanted to come here. And many an overwhelming number want to come to New York. And so when you look at how we have all of a sudden, all of a sudden become ashamed of being the greatest country on the globe. Our children are being radicalized. They hate the country. Some of the Ivy League institutions are talking about, you know, the destruction of America and dismantling America, their students. We no longer appreciate our product. And I think that out of everything he's doing, to hear people chanting, usa, USA is the greatest country on the globe, is it perfect? Hell, no, it's not. But if you were to tell those who criticize this country, here's a map, pick where you want to go, whole lot of people won't be going anywhere.
- [12:54]
Stephen A. Smith
The one thing that one could argue in favor of the right and against the left is that the right has been preaching about how America's the greatest country in the world. And they've accused the left of doing the exact opposite of that, which is the protest that you pointed to, along with various other things. Is there any legitimacy to that?
- [13:15]
Eric Adams
I think it's extremely legitimate. We have a. There are various systems of government. You have communism, you have socialism, you have capitalism. We never stated we were not a capitalist country. It's about compassionate capitalism. It's about coming here as a dishwasher and one day owning a chain of restaurants. It's about growing up in Hollis, Queens, and now becoming one of the premier talk show hosts. Where else are you going to be able to accomplish that? It's about being dyslexic, interested. And now I'm elected to be the mayor of the greatest city on the globe. The possibilities are endless in this country.
- [13:49]
Stephen A. Smith
You're sitting next to somebody that was. I had undiagnosed dyslexia that they found out about. And ultimately, you know, this is the kind of stuff I'm sitting Here today. I ask you this because when I think about diversity, equity and inclusion, that has nothing to do with what we just talking about. But getting back to dei, I would like you to define the definition of dei. What it should mean when you hear dei. What should that mean to the average American citizen and the employers out here.
- [14:16]
Eric Adams
Yeah. We cannot. We cannot ignore the fact that there are many people who were passed over based on their ethnicity and based on their gender and based on their lives. You know, many. I would talk to some of my Muslim brothers and sisters, and they were denied jobs because they had ejab. I would talk to some of my Jewish brothers and sisters, and they were law firms and other jobs they could not have, and African Americans. I could think about my sister, my older sister, how many jobs. She would train someone who was junior to her and constantly watch them pass over. So we know there were some historical problems. Now, the goal is, how do you give opportunities to people, regardless of their ethnicity, their gender, their lifestyle? That's what I believe it should be. Qualified people given opportunities.
- [15:06]
Stephen A. Smith
And that's one of the problems that people have when they look at the Trump administration or they look at the Republicans and the conservatives. Because every time you hear dei, whether it's in the media, on the right or from politicians, when you hear dei, it implicates or insinuates. These are unqualified individuals that got jobs because of dei. They're not looking at the fact that DEI was necessary because there were plenty of qualified individuals who didn't look like you share your cultural identity or background, that you didn't give a chance to show you what they could do. They're not doing that. And that's something that the right to me needs to get their act together about. When they talk about dei. To that, you say, what?
- [15:46]
Eric Adams
Listen, well said. And I speak with folks of color who are very much associated with the party, and they say, listen, there's areas we have to improve upon. There's a lot of things that I could disagree with people on, but I want to find places on where I agree on. And the only way you could get it at the table and talk about allowing that pathway to success is you have to be at the table and talk to people and not yell at people. And that's where folks are. If we're constantly yelling at each other, we would never hear each other. And that is my role as the mayor of the most important city on the globe.
- [16:24]
Stephen A. Smith
Before I let you get on out of here, just a couple questions, because I know I'M busy, man. I really appreciate this time. September 15, 2023, you awarded media mogul Sean Diddy Combs with the key to the city and declared the day did he day. First of all, I want to know, I'm curious what goes into determining who gets the key to the city? I just want to know. I just want, I'm just asking.
- [16:43]
Eric Adams
No, you know what's interesting? I'm glad you said that. Talking about dei, when we did an analysis of who we're getting the keys, it didn't look like us, it didn't look like Jose.
- [16:53]
Stephen A. Smith
And then you gave it to somebody that looked like us. And what the hell has he got himself into, man? I mean, come on, man, come on. But go ahead, go ahead. I'm sorry, go ahead.
- [17:02]
Eric Adams
You can't live life by what's in the front window. You gotta know, you know, you go based on what people have done. And so there's a whole panel and committee. And what we did, we broke it up into entertainers as well as those who contribute to the city. And people looked at his contribution, what he has done and others that we honored, we knew that we should give him that award. And listen, my heart goes out to him, you know, as he go through his legal struggles, you know, my heart.
- [17:32]
Stephen A. Smith
Goes out if he's innocent.
- [17:33]
Eric Adams
Right, exactly. You know, and I, you know, there by the grace of God goes out we all going through something and so my heart goes out to him.
- [17:41]
Stephen A. Smith
The key was returned last year. Did you ask for it back?
- [17:44]
Eric Adams
The team? The committee did.
- [17:45]
Stephen A. Smith
The committee did. Not you.
- [17:47]
Eric Adams
I'm not the individual person that determined. There's a whole committee that sits down and they made the determination because of the highlight of the case. And his team was, they were cool. They said, listen, we understand what's going on, we respect that. They didn't give any pushback. This is the big boys, big girls club. We all know that you have to deal with the issues that are in front of us.
- [18:07]
Stephen A. Smith
Only reason I ask is because, you know, when Luigi Mangione, you know, allegedly killed the United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, you were right there when he arrived in New York. I'm asking because you were right there.
- [18:21]
Eric Adams
You know, you will be seen front.
- [18:23]
Stephen A. Smith
And center when it comes to issues such as that. No doubt.
- [18:26]
Eric Adams
Listen, I'm on the ground, man. I was on the ground when officer Maura and Rivera, two young officers were shot and killed, assassinated. I was on the ground when an 11 year old, 11 month old baby was shot in the head. I was in the hospital with the family members. I believe that being mayor is both substantive and is symbolism. And we have done a great job in the substantive part of it. But the symbolism of a person who's allegedly committed an assassination and our city with a silencer. Watching him come back in the city, I needed to look him in the eye. And many New Yorkers said, thank you for being there. People were traumatized. And if I lose my CEOs in this city, I'm losing employees, I'm losing tax dollars, and I'm using the economic stability of this city.
- [19:13]
Stephen A. Smith
You sound like a conservative. You understand that, right? Some people gonna look at you say you sound like a conservative.
- [19:18]
Eric Adams
No, but think about us for a moment. You know, I went to the Church of Christ in South Jamaica, Queensland. Our philosophy in the family we grew up in, you know, I'm not sure what your dad did, but I'm sure he was hardware.
- [19:32]
Stephen A. Smith
Silver hardware.
- [19:33]
Eric Adams
Blue collar worker. Brother, blue collar worker.
- [19:35]
Stephen A. Smith
Mother, registered nurse, Queen General Hospital.
- [19:37]
Eric Adams
Think about it.
- [19:37]
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah.
- [19:38]
Eric Adams
Think about the core values and principles that they're from, you know, Your family, I believe, is from the Caribbean.
- [19:45]
Stephen A. Smith
That's right.
- [19:46]
Eric Adams
Coming here may have left family members behind, eking out their way, not ever looking for a handout, just given the opportunity to work, you know, for their families and puts their families to six children that they were raising. And so those are the principles that I live by.
- [20:03]
Stephen A. Smith
What about people who look at the left and say they want to give too many handouts? They look at the right and say they don't want to give you a damn thing.
- [20:09]
Eric Adams
Right.
- [20:09]
Stephen A. Smith
Which way do you go? How does the mayor of the largest city in the United States answer that question?
- [20:13]
Eric Adams
I love that. I love that. Because what happens all the time, People want you to be on one side or the other. And it takes a lot of discipline to say you're not going to pigeonhole me. I may have a conservative view on the topic, and I may have a liberal view on the topic, and I'm going to address that based on where I am on the topic, but devoid.
- [20:39]
Stephen A. Smith
Of being pigeonholed, devoid of, you know, taking a side, per se. Because I'm right with you. I believe exactly how you do. I'm not a politician, though. They say you need that support in order to get support. You need to take a side. How do you answer that?
- [20:57]
Eric Adams
And I think they're wrong. I think the numerical minority are at the streams. The overwhelming majority is in the middle. We have to encourage them to come out and vote. I think there are more Americans like you And I that are concerned about affordability, public safety, and making sure they could house their children and have a safe place for families in the city. But we've allowed the extremes to hijack the narrative. But I think the overwhelming number of New Yorkers are just like you. And I want to provide for our family and make sure they have a future.
- [21:31]
Stephen A. Smith
Last couple of questions. When I think about you now, let's think positive.
- [21:35]
Eric Adams
Yes.
- [21:36]
Stephen A. Smith
Let's say these allegations are gonna go away. Your issues, campaign, you know, fraud and campaign finance, all of this stuff, we don't do away with all of that. It's you against Andrew Cuomo for the mayor of New York. I'm a sports guy. I like competition. I mean, what kind of prediction would you put forth if you got. If you had yourself, if you found yourself in a position where you were going up against Andrew Cuomo for the mayor's position, for his honors position in the city of New York?
- [22:05]
Eric Adams
Well, I think that to me, and this is how I run my life. I'm not running against Andrew Cuomo or any of the other candidates. I'm running against myself. Play my best game. If I play my best game, it doesn't matter who's in the race, because there's other candidates in the race. And what I've learned in electoral politics right now, we're in the preseason, you know, we're not in the playoffs. When you're in the playoffs, your game has to be different. You could be great, you know, in the season, but when you get in the playoff, let's see what you're made of.
- [22:38]
Stephen A. Smith
He's a former governor that may be running for mayor. Yes, You're a mayor. All of this stuff goes away. Gubernatorial aspirations, sir?
- [22:50]
Eric Adams
No, not at this time.
- [22:51]
Stephen A. Smith
Why not? Why not?
- [22:53]
Eric Adams
I am focused on running this city. And listen, this is the second most important job in America. And, you know, it's a blessing every day being a mayor of the city of New York. And so no matter what's on the next journey, no one can take away the number 1 10th. I was the 110th mayor of the greatest city on the globe. Think about that for a moment.
- [23:15]
Stephen A. Smith
Yes, sir. You said second most important job was.
- [23:17]
Eric Adams
The first president of the United States.
- [23:19]
Stephen A. Smith
Okay.
- [23:19]
Eric Adams
You know, but everyone knows when I meet the mayors from across the globe during UN Week, they all argue about who's number two and number three. And they look over at me and they smile. They say, we know who's number one.
- [23:33]
Stephen A. Smith
Last question, sir. As we sit here talking right now as two individuals from the streets of Queens, New York, and we hear the climate that is out there, it's subsided to some degree, although there's obvious concerns, because the election is over and the people have spoken. Donald Trump won the popular vote. He won the Electoral College vote. The right won the House. They got the Senate. It is what it is. What message would you say, particularly specifically to black Americans out there, who have this fear of what he's going to do and the kind of effect it's going to have on our community moving forward? And it's not to alienate any other minority. It's not to alienate white America. It's nothing about that. But I'm a black man from Queens. You're a black man from Queens. We're hearing the rhetoric, and we see people overreacting to the slightest syllable that comes out of his mouth and that of the right. If anybody from our community supports it in any way, what message do you have?
- [24:40]
Eric Adams
Yeah, and I like that. And I think your success has been because you may be of African ancestry, you speak to everyone. The guy that's sitting inside the bar, that's Italian, still can connect with you. The hardworking person who may be a Jan can see how you combine sports and politics. You know, I think that is the gift that you have that you're able to connect with people. And so I say to African Americans who feel specifically that this is going to impact their lives, no matter who's the mayor, the governor, the president, if you truly believe God is in charge, then God is not going to let anything harmful happen to you. And so we have to draw on our religious beliefs, and we have to really fortify how we feel about the success of the children and families of our city. Stay focused. Don't be distracted. You have your dreams. You have your mission. And no president or mayor or governor is going to be able to impact that. Because you and I both know we've lived through several mayors and governors, and many times they may have been elected and people have forecast doomsday. And we're still here today. You running the show? I'm running the city.
- [25:56]
Stephen A. Smith
There you go. And we got resolved. Your honor was all mine, sir.
- [26:00]
Eric Adams
My pleasure, brother.
- [26:01]
Stephen A. Smith
Absolute pressure. The mayor of New York himself, the one and only Eric Adams. I hope you all enjoyed that conversation. I know I did. And if you listened, no doubt you learned a few things.
- [26:19]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [26:49]
Julie Swerbinks
What's up everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [26:54]
Nate Thompson
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
- [26:57]
Julie Swerbinks
The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [27:00]
Nate Thompson
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [27:06]
Julie Swerbinks
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [27:09]
AT&T Representative
Us.
- [27:09]
Nate Thompson
Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [27:14]
Julie Swerbinks
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.