In just one week, Mayor Adams beat federal corruption charges, ditched the Democratic Party to run for reelection as an independent, and evidently became a free thinker.

During an appearance on comedian Andrew Schulz’s “FLAGRANT” podcast, Mr. Adams said that the existence of a Deep State is “real, brother.” He added: “It’s just unbelievable what this Deep State is about and why it’s so important for Americans that we cannot have a weaponizing of our prosecutorial powers.”

The mayor’s embrace of the deep state theory, including repeated endorsements of FBI Director Kash Patel’s “unbelievable” book, “Government Gangsters,” published in 2023, which excoriates the “sinister cabal” of anti-democratic saboteurs in the Department of Justice, came as a shock to many in the mainstream press.

Yet to former Trump Advisor Steve Bannon, Mr. Adams’ newfound perspective is hardly a shocker. “You need revelations from people fighting the system who will go in and call it out. He should have called it out at the time,” Mr. Bannon told the Sun. 

“His Damascene moment I kind of take with a grain of salt, because he was on the inside and knew this stuff and saw how the deal was run, and didn’t have any problem until it became evident that his decisions were going (to impact him),” said Mr. Bannon, who produced a documentary based on Mr. Patel’s book.

Political strategist Hank Sheinkopf wasn’t entirely surprised by Mr. Adams’s rhetoric. “He’s always been more conservative. He believes in leaving people alone in how they live their lives,” says Mr. Sheinkopf. 

“That’s not necessarily (Mr. Adams) embracing the Deep State argument. That’s just looking at how he thinks American democracy is supposed to function,” Mr. Sheinkopf adds.

Last year, Mr. Adams was indicted on several charges, including conspiracy and soliciting illegal contributions from foreign nationals, making him the first active Mayor in city history to be hit with criminal charges. Since taking office in January, President Trump’s Department of Justice had worked to get the charges against Mr. Adams dropped while also forcing out the prosecutors who worked on his case. 

On April 2, a United States district judge, Dale Ho, dismissed the charges against Mr. Adams “with prejudice,” preventing the charges from being brought up again.

During a press conference at Gracie Mansion on Wednesday, Mr. Adams held up a copy of Mr. Patel’s book and encouraged the 8 million New Yorkers to read and “understand how we can never allow this to happen to another innocent American.”