Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘Potential Bribe Taker’: Joy Reid Discusses Eric Adams Indictment, Swiftly Pivots To Unproven Allegation Against Trump

Screenshot/TikTok/JoyReidOfficial

MSNBC host Joy Reid claimed that Democratic Mayor Eric Adams of New York City was a “potential bribe taker” as she compared him to former President Donald Trump following the mayor’s indictment.

Federal prosecutors in New York unsealed a five-count indictment of Adams Thursday, centered around alleged campaign contributions from Turkey that allegedly netted the mayor’s 2021 campaign over $10 million in matching funds. Reid cited the 57-page indictment, saying that one of the people who allegedly provided the illegal contributions to Adams believed the former New York Police Department captain would eventually become president.

“Now, I’m going to tell you for a moment a story of two New Yorkers. One from Brooklyn, one from Queens. Both of whom are facing criminal indictments,” Reid said. “Both are accused of taking cash from foreign governments, both are accused of enriching themselves while in office. One of them is the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams. The other is Donald Trump. Today, the FBI formally announced five criminal counts against Adams including two counts of solicitation of contributions by a foreign national as well as wire fraud and bribery.”

WATCH:

The DOJ accused Adams of seeking contributions from Turkish donors since he served as Bronx Borough president, and claimed that he committed wire fraud by securing the matching funds with illegal contributions.

“Now, it’s an allegation that Trump is facing as well about the possibility that he took a $10 million illegal cash contribution from Egypt around his 2016 presidential campaign,” Reid said. “Like Trump, since Adams took office in 2022, his administration has been caught in several federal investigations.”

The FBI investigated the rumored involvement of an Egyptian bank in a $10 million contribution Trump made to his 2016 campaign, but no charges were ever filed, according to CNN.

“Given all the similarities one might wonder if you could imagine a world where Adams decided to make a run for president as a Republican, of course. I mean. why not? He would meet all the standards as the current nominee, potential felon, potential bribe taker, having enriched himself while in office” Reid said. “In fact, according to the 57-page indictment that very idea pops up as a motivating factor for one of the foreign nationals allegedly making an illegal contribution to the mayor’s pocket in the belief that Adams might one day be the president of the United States. Adams will be arraigned tomorrow in a federal courtroom in the city he serves.”