NEW YORK – Donald Trump is lastly getting his second at Madison Square Garden.
With simply over every week till Election Day, the previous president will take the stage at one of many nation’s most iconic venues, internet hosting a rally in his hometown to ship his marketing campaign’s closing message in opposition to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Madison Square Garden is the middle of the universe,” mentioned Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump’s marketing campaign, noting the venue’s storied historical past as having hosted occasions together with the 1971 “Fight of the Century.”
The rally is a part of a sequence of detours Trump has created from battleground states, together with a latest rally in Coachella, California – finest recognized for the well-known music competition named after town – and one over the summer season on the Jersey Shore. This summer season he campaigned the South Bronx.
While some Democrats and tv pundits have questioned Trump’s determination to carry what they dismiss as vainness occasions, the rally grants Trump what he needs most: the highlight, blanket protection and a nationwide viewers.
In addition to attempting to reinvigorate his base, Trump’s marketing campaign has sought to woo the few remaining undecided voters, a lot of whom do not get their information from conventional channels.
To attain them, Trump spent hours showing on widespread podcasts. And his marketing campaign has labored to create viral moments like his go to final weekend to a McDonald’s restaurant, the place he made french fries and served followers via the drive-thru window. The video of the cease posted by his marketing campaign has been considered greater than 40 million instances on TikTook alone.
“He will not simply communicate to attendees inside Madison Square Garden. There will likely be folks tuning in from battleground states all around the nation,” mentioned former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican and ally of the previous president, who mentioned Trump has talked about holding an occasion in headquarters from the start. of his marketing campaign.
Harris has additionally traveled to non-conflict states for main occasions meant to convey a nationwide message. She appeared in Houston on Friday with music famous person Beyoncé to speak about reproductive rights, and she is going to his closing argument Tuesday from the Ellipse in Washington, the place Trump spoke forward of Jan. 6, 2021 Riot in the Capitol.
Trump will likely be joined on the rally by supporters together with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has spent tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} reviving his marketing campaign.
“The most well-known enviornment on this planet”
Trump typically compares himself to the nation’s best entertainers. The former actuality star has lengthy spoken about wanting to carry a rally on the venue dubbed “The Most Famous Arena within the World,” elevating the thought in interviews and personal conversations.
“New York is a part of his DNA. Madison Square Garden is a part of his DNA,” mentioned New York State Republican Chairman Ed Cox.
Although Trump continues to insist that the rally is a part of his effort to win New York – a state that President Joe Biden carried 4 years in the past with greater than 60% of the vote – he has made clear that it is usually a private matter.
“It’s New York, but it surely’s additionally, , it is MSG, it is Madison Square Garden,” Trump mentioned throughout a latest radio interview. “Guys such as you and me, these phrases imply so much. Madison Square Garden, proper? Don’t you suppose so? … It’s a extremely vital milestone.”
The venue additionally has a history in politics, internet hosting occasions with Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1962, John F. Kennedy Jr. held a birthday celebration on the stadium the place Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday to You, Mr. President.”
But if there’s one piece of Garden historical past that Trump could wish to replicate, it is when Grover Cleveland accepted his social gathering’s nomination in 1892, three years after leaving the White House. He went on to win the election, turning into the primary and solely president to serve two non-consecutive phrases.
Control of the House may lengthen to New York’s suburbs
Beyond the nationwide highlight and the attract of showing on one of many world’s most well-known levels, Republicans within the state say the rally can even assist deprived candidates.
New York is residence to a handful of aggressive congressional races that would decide which social gathering controls the House subsequent yr.
Zeldin ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022 however carried out higher than anticipated, driving turnout in aggressive districts that helped House Republicans acquire a slim majority. This underlined, he mentioned, the significance of the highest of the ticket working as finest as potential. He mentioned the Garden occasion is bound to be featured on the information in areas with high-stakes races similar to suburban Long Island, the place Trump held a crowded and raucous rally final month.
Trump can even use the cease as a serious fundraising alternative as he continues to significantly decelerate Harris within the cash race.
A local returns to town that created and condemned him
New York hasn’t voted for a Republican for president in 40 years. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from persevering with to insist he believes he can win.
“We suppose there’s a probability,” he mentioned on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” earlier this week, underscoring frustrations with the inflow of migrants into town and issues about crime.
Trump routinely makes use of his hometown as a foil earlier than audiences in different states, portray a darkish imaginative and prescient of town that bears little resemblance to actuality. He described it as crime-ridden and overrun by violent immigrant gangs who’ve taken management of Fifth and Madison Avenues and occupied Times Square.
Trump has an advanced historical past with the place he constructed his enterprise empire and made him a tabloid and actuality TV star. Its residents indicted him final yr on 34 counts of falsifying enterprise data. In that case he was discovered responsible and held liable in civil court docket for business fraud and sexual abuse.
Associated Press author Michelle L. Price in Novi, Michigan, contributed to this report.
