New York City Mayor Eric Adams reportedly has been lying about a picture of a fallen cop he claimed to carry in his wallet, and the politician is now being dragged on social media.
Adams claimed to carry a picture of his friend, Officer Robert Venable, who died in the line of duty in 1987.
The former police captain claimed that he had carried a picture of Venable in his wallet since his death after two New York City police officers died while on a domestic violence call during Adams’ first month as mayor in 2022.
“I carry around a picture of Robert Venable, my close friend, that was shot several years ago during my early days of police, and I always have Robert’s picture,” said Adams. “The pain never dissipates.”
Adams was reportedly friends with Venable. However, according to The New York Times, he never carried the fallen officer’s picture in his wallet, and aides of the mayor were told to download the photograph of Venable from the internet. The aides aged the picture by pouring coffee on it just a few days after Adams claimed to carry the picture, and the mayor later posed with the picture for an article for the news outlet.
The New York mayor was quickly dragged on social media following the revelation, and the internet had jokes. One Twitter user dubbed Adams “The Lying King” on a fake Playbill cover.
Another user joked about grade school projects. “Not the fourth grade letters from the revolutionary war project hack,” wrote one user.
“A lying politician/cop?!?! *clutches pearls* thank goodness I’m sitting down,” another user echoed.
Other users wondered why it was necessary for Adams to lie.
“I will never understand why politicians do this kind of thing. Even if these ‘just so’ stories are effective, it’s easy enough to get real ones,” replied another. “Just go talk to the widow or children of a cop killed on the job and then tell a story on the stump about how moved you were by it.”
“Do not, under any circumstances, trust the police. This is what they do for a gimmick imagine what they do for a coverup,” wrote another.
One user predicted the mayor’s future. “One-term behavior by a one-term mayor.”
When asked for comment by reporters, the mayor’s spokesman Fabien Levy described The New York Times article as a “campaign to paint the mayor as a liar.”
Levy also claimed that Adams made a photocopy of Venable’s picture 30 years ago.
“Over 30 years ago, after Officer Venable’s murder, then-Officer Adams made a copy of a photo published of Officer Venable from an NYPD Transit News Bulletin — a document he still has to this day,” Levy said. “For decades, Mayor Adams has carried a picture of his friend who died in the line of duty, and the Times’ efforts to attack the mayor here would be laughable if it were not so utterly offensive.”
Adams has been caught stretching the truth in the past. The former cop claimed to be a vegan until he was caught eating fish. According to Politico, Adams is also wishy-washy in his political views and was a registered Republican before running as a Democratic mayor.
