John Oliver was delighted by the results of the New York City mayoral race last week, and on Sunday night, he devoted the end of his show to give outgoing mayor Eric Adams a proper send-off. In true Oliver fashion, the HBO host did so by speed-running some of Adams’ most “shocking” scandals and replies to interview questions.
Oliver saved his thoughts on the election for the end of the episode, recapping just how “truly insane” the entire race was, before turning his attention directly to Adams. What stunned Oliver the most was that, on the day Adams dropped out of the race, the local ABC News station couldn’t find a single New Yorker to talk to who was upset about the move.
“They couldn’t find anyone! This city has 8 million people!” Oliver bellowed. “I am 1000% sure I could find someone who would vote for a pigeon f–king a bagel in Central Park, but no takers for Eric Adams? That has got to hurt.”
That said, Oliver wasn’t that surprised, considering what a “deeply weird man” Adams is. The host’s first piece of evidence for that was when Adams was asked to describe 2023 in one word, and answered with: “New York.” Adams also touted the “complicated” nature of the city by saying that, on any given day, someone could experience an event like 9/11 or celebrate a new business opening.
“It’s incredible!” Oliver said, stifling his laughter. “Remember, the question he was asked there was, ‘Describe 2023 in one word.’ Just say ‘Barbenheimer,’ Eric! It’s right there! And the baffling ride that answer took us on is really the Eric Adams experience in a nutshell.”
“He genuinely might be one of the strangest people alive,” Oliver continued.
The host then highlighted more strange interview answers from Adams over the years — which took several minutes — and admitted Adams had a few wins, before focusing on the scandals that his administration became plagued by. And to get through even just a partial list of those, Oliver had to utilize his ability to talk quickly.
“His police commissioner resigned after federal agents raided his home and seized his cell phone as part of an investigation into corruption allegations,” Oliver began listing. “His police chief resigned and had his home raided in response to allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of overtime. Adams’ girlfriend, a senior education official, retired amid an investigation into accusations she didn’t show up to work and failed to disclose luxury travel.”
Oliver went on to call out five more officials who worked under Adams and faced allegations of misconduct themselves, and again, that was all only a partial list. The host conceded that only two people on that list have actually been charged with a crime, and both plead not guilty.
Still, Oliver added, it was a lot of scandal, leading to “a truly wild four years.” That’s why the late night host found it a little rich that Adams’ message on election night last week to the candidates was “I’m leaving you a good city, don’t f–k it up.”
“I mean, you’re taking a lot of credit there,” Oliver said. “Especially given they literally couldn’t find a single person in New York who’d miss you on the news.”
