New York’s Democratic Mayor Eric Adams fired a staffer after he was heard blasting his boss and law enforcement in undercover videos.
Chris Baugh, who had worked at City Hall since former Mayor Bill de Blasio was in office, according to Fox News, was fired on Wednesday after the Project Veritas videos showed him criticizing Adams’ immigration policies and members of the New York Police Department.
Baugh called Adams “corrupt” and joked about the mayor’s likely aspirations of running for president. Indeed, it would be hard for Adams to be elected president when his city is descending into a crime-ridden hellscape and after he smeared half the nation as having “no brand.”
Baugh also hit Adams over his handling of the recent arrivals of illegal immigrants who had been shipped to the Big Apple from Texas and elsewhere. Adams also approved a measure allowing non-citizens to vote.
“We’re housing immigrants right now from Texas. It would be very easy to be like, ‘Nope, not anymore,’” Baugh said in one video.
“I think what [Texas Gov. Greg] Abbott was doing has proven effective. Like, it’s flooded our system,” he said. “I think the optics of this are bad for [President Joe] Biden, and they’re bad for the mayor. … I don’t know that Eric Adams is capable enough to navigate it.”
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In another video, Baugh ridiculed New York police officers and firefighters who quit because of the city’s COVID vaccine mandate.
Should Baugh have been fired?
Yes: 39% (26 Votes)
No: 61% (40 Votes)
“1,400 [government employees] voluntarily quit their jobs rather than get vaccinated. They don’t deserve their jobs back,” he said.
“I have no sympathy for them. They made a choice. They chose not to do a very, very harmless thing that, like, protects the rest of society. F*** them,” Baugh said. “I don’t give a s***. They’re like, ‘This is unfair.’ F***ing deal with it. We’re allowed to set the terms of employment. Period.”
Baugh also said that being a police officer is “the cushiest gig in the city. Like, you might get shot, but otherwise it’s very good.”
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After the videos were released by Project Veritas, the Adams administration jumped into action to fire Baugh, which Project Veritas highlighted in a follow-up video:
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After Baugh was fired, Adams’ press secretary, Fabien Levy, released a statement obtained by Fox.
“This was a low-level staffer who had no private or special access to the mayor and who wasn’t hired by this administration,” Levy said of Baugh. “His comments today disparaging first responders are completely unacceptable, and we’ve terminated this employee effective immediately. Mayor Adams will always stand up for our first responders and have their backs.”
But Levy also attacked Project Veritas.
“Let’s also not forget that, time and again, Project Veritas has lied to spin false narratives and deceive the American people,” Levy said. “This is an enterprise run by a convicted criminal and one that admitted to lying about their identity and their intent just to secretly record and have conversations with this now-former employee. It’s shameful behavior that benefits no one.”
Adams was asked about the firing at a news conference. He insisted that Baugh was fired for criticizing the police, not for criticizing Adams.
“The first tape we saw, Christopher made disparaging remarks about me. The team came to me and stated, ‘You know what? Are we getting rid of him?’ And I said, ‘No,’” Adams said. “People crap on me every day. You got to be thick-skinned. This is what being a mayor is. Being a mayor means you’re crapped on.
“But when you have disparaging remarks about first responders, that’s unacceptable. It’s not tolerated,” the mayor said. “I know what first responders went through. I cannot allow that to happen. And my team cannot be a part of that.”
