New York City Mayor Eric Adams compared himself to Job, a biblical figure who experienced severe suffering, amid multiple federal investigations into his administration, The Gothamist reported.
Speaking at the Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry this weekend, Adams called the Book of Job his “favorite” Bible story.
I spent this morning with the congregations at Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry and Changing Lives Christian Center in Brooklyn.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) September 8, 2024
There was so much love and energy today. It was an honor to join them in worship. pic.twitter.com/uQN2yDatT7
“It was so important for me as a child, to sit in nursery school and Sunday school to learn that lesson of Job and how, when you’re in those dark places, they are not burials, they are plantings,” Adams said.
“[A] reporter said to me this morning ‘Do you feel like you’re being persecuted?’” he continued. “I said ‘No, I’m just in my Job moment.’ I know what got me here, and I know what’s going to sustain me here.”
The comments from the mayor come just days after federal agents raided the homes of several of his top aides, including First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks.
The FBI also raided the home of Adams’s key fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, last year.
No official has been formally accused of a crime. Some, including former President Donald Trump, have suggested that Adams is the victim of a lawfare attack by the weaponized DOJ due to his criticism of the Biden–Harris open-border policy.
In a statement last week, Adams said he was “not aware of any misdoings” on the part of his administration officials and insisted he’s told them to “follow the rules. And that’s what they have been doing, to my knowledge,” he added.
When pressed on why his administration officials continued to come under scrutiny then, Adams answered, “Those are questions I can’t answer. I’m going to … I know what I’m going to do, and that is information that’s needed to show that I have always followed the law, we’re going to give that information.”
As he was leaving the Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry this weekend, Adams also urged congregants to pray for him and his administration.
“Pray—pray for them all,” Adams said. “Pray for me.”
