New York City Mayor Eric Adams has apologized for calling white police officers "crackers" more than two years ago.
While gearing up to launch his campaign for mayor, Adams went on a racial tirade at a private event in Harlem in December 2019.
The New York Daily News exclusively obtained video of Adams' remarks.
"Every day in the Police Department, I kicked those crackers' a**," Adams, D, said in the video, the Daily News reported.
"Man, I was unbelievable in the Police Department with [the police advocacy group] 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement. Became a sergeant, a lieutenant, and a captain. You know the story — some people all of a sudden trying to reinvent me. But the reality is what I was then is who I am now."
On Friday, Adams apologized for the remarks after being asked about them by the Daily News.
"I definitely apologize. Inappropriate, inappropriate comments, should not have been used," Adams told the Daily News.
"Someone asked me a question using that comment and playing on that word. I responded in that comment, but clearly, these comments should not have been used, and I apologize not only to those who heard it, but to New Yorkers because they should expect more from me. That was inappropriate."
Adams, who co-founded 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement in the 1990s, retired from the NYPD in 2006 after 22 years as a police officer.
The video also shows Adams saying that maybe he should "grow a beard, smoke some weed and leave this stuff alone" to appease opponents to his mayoral campaign.
"The people who say, 'Where’s our real Black leaders?’ They're going to say, 'Who's Eric? Why does Eric think he should be mayor?' Well, Negro, you run. You run, go raise the $7 million," Adams said in the video, the Daily News reported.
"Let me tell you something, man. They are lining up — 'Eric can't be mayor.' In the corners of the city, they are lining up. They know me. They know what I'm about and they know what I'm going to do as the mayor of the City of New York. Listen, we’re not going to play this game."
Police Benevolent Association's Pat Lynch, president of the NYPD's largest union, told the Daily News on Friday afternoon that he had spoken to Adams about the video. Lynch added that he asked his union members to not "rush to outrage."
"We have spent far too many hours together in hospital emergency rooms these past few weeks, and we've worked together for decades before that," said Lynch, referring to recent shooting deaths of NYPD officers.
"A few seconds of video will not define our relationship. We have a lot of work to do together to support our members on the streets."
Curtis Sliwa, who as a Republican lost to Adams in November's general election, disagreed with Lynch.
"Here's the guy [Adams] who was so quick to call anyone who disagrees with him racist — not just Curtis Sliwa," Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, told the Daily News.
"Whenever he had an adversary, they were always racist. Well, this is clearly a racist statement, so what else have you said, Eric?"
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