NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday that border czar Tom Homan apologized to him for an "inappropriate" comment he made during their live interview on Fox News last week but that the two had been "joking" around backstage minutes before and were on friendly terms.
As the two sat together at the “Fox & Friends” studio in Manhattan last Friday to discuss immigration enforcement efforts in the city, Homan appeared to issue an on-air warning to the mayor.
“If he doesn’t come through, I’ll be back in New York City, and we won’t be sitting on the couch. I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, ‘Where the hell is the agreement we came to?’” Homan said.
The off-color comment raised eyebrows, as well as questions about the agreement and Adams' legal case, but appearing on NY1’s “Inside City Hall” on Wednesday, Adams said Homan was just joking and meant no disrespect. He said the two had been “ribbing each other prior to coming on the stage.”
“We're two ex-police officers—this is what we do,” the mayor said. “We joke at each other. Some of our commentary is, you know, it's inappropriate if you're on the stage. And he spoke with me, says, ‘You know, Eric, we're on TV. I should not have said that. I apologize to you.’”
“And he stated when he was interviewed, ‘I was joking with Eric,’ you know, and in a day and time where everyone is playing the word police and, you know, we're trying to play 'got you,'” Adams said.
The mayor added, “Listen, was he trying to say something that was trying to be offensive? No, he was not. It was clear when we saw the two of us sit down together, there was a cordial interaction.”
“We had several interactions, and I was joking with him backstage, et cetera. So we understand that,” he said.
Adams and Homan had appeared together on Fox News to discuss an agreement to reestablish an office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Rikers Island.
Responding to Homan’s comment, Adams said: “And I want ICE to deliver. I want ICE to deliver. We’re going to deliver for the safety of the American people.”