MSNBC host rips into Eric Adams as 'Trump knockoff' over migrant comments

MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan ridiculed New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday and called him a Donald Trump "knockoff" after the Big Apple leader warned the migrant crisis could "destroy" the city.  

"Let me tell you something, New Yorkers. Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don't see an ending to this. I don't see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy New York City," Adams said during a Town Hall meeting on the Upper West Side on Wednesday. "We're getting 10,000 migrants a month."

Adams also blamed Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for busing migrants from the border to self-declared sanctuary jurisdictions such as New York City.

"It's going to come to your neighborhoods. All of us are going to be impacted by this. I said it last year when we had 15,000," Adams added. "I'm telling you now with 110,000. The city we knew we're about to lose. And we're all in this together."

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Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams is pictured during briefing at the Javits Federal Building, New York City, April 17, 2023.  (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)



MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan finds it "uniquely America" that former presidents aren’t regularly prosecuted after leaving the White House. (Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)



Migrants speak with NYC Homeless Outreach members as they camp out in front of the Watson Hotel after being evicted on January 30, 2023 in New York City.  (Michael M. Santiago)

His comments shocked users across social media, including a large swathe of conservative commentators who mocked Adam's shifting attitudes on immigration.

Elon Musk, responding to the video, tweeted, "Yikes."

"So New Yorkers are getting exactly what they voted for. Democrats didn't lie," another X account chimed in.  

Several users pointed to a tweet from Adam posted on October 21, 2020, as evidence of his prior support for mass immigration into the city.

"'We should protect our immigrants.' Period," Adams wrote at the time. "Yes, New York City will remain a sanctuary city under an Adams administration. #EriconNBC."

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Adams' dire warning about the migrant crisis in New York City also drew the ire of Hasan, who fumed over his choice of words.

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"I have seen the Eric Adams clip claiming migrants will destroy New York City. It is awful. There is a reason why Republicans and far right folks are gleefully sharing it," Hasan tweeted. "New York Dems could have had Maya Wiley as mayor but they went for the ridiculous Adams, a Trump knock-off."

Adams has long-championed relaxed immigration laws and has often heralded New York City as a place that welcomes migrants.

Last month, Adams criticized the Biden administration and said the federal government's move to deny approximately 100,000 migrants who have arrived in the city the right to legally work is "anti-American."

In October, Mayor Adams tweeted: "There is a reason that Lady Liberty sits outside of NYC's harbor. This is the place where we ensure we live up to the expectations of what it is to be an American, an American citizen, or a country that welcomes those fleeing prosecution and persecution."

Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

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Nikolas Lanum is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.