Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will use one of the biggest stages in the nation’s largest city on Sunday to make one final swing in his fierce 2024 race for the White House.
Holding a flashy campaign event at Madison Square Garden, a venue that bills itself as “the world’s most famous arena,” is typical of President Trump. It’s another classic Trump-style strategic decision, and as the clock ticks toward Election Day on Nov. 5, why would the former president devote his limited time and resources to seemingly safe Democratic states? This is disconcerting for experienced political types who question the move to . new york.
President Trump and his aides insist there are good reasons for holding the rally during the penultimate weekend of the presidential campaign. His ability to manipulate the media and attract attention has always been critical to his success and is a hallmark of his fame, which began in New York in the 1980s. This is a race against Kamala Harris, who has brought new energy and a wave of positive publicity for herself since she rose to the top of the Democratic field this summer following President Joe Biden’s one-term decision. This is an important element that he hopes to continue gaining in the fight.
“That’s MSG, that’s Madison Square Garden,” President Trump recently said on Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” adding, “That means a lot, those words, Madison Square Garden. Don’t you think so?” he added.
Sunday’s rally ranged from last Saturday’s cooking of fries and handing out meals at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania to questioning Harris’ racial identity and spreading false claims that Haitian immigrants eat pets. It was held after a series of events that thrust President Trump into the spotlight. During a visit to the late golf legend’s hometown, about an hour outside of Pittsburgh, he heard terrifying threats about the “enemy within” and stories about Arnold Palmer’s genitals.
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These moves, and many others, have helped Trump move away from key talking points on the economy and immigration, frustrating some in the Republican Party, but heading into a close race in the polls. It is possible that Now, the Republican candidate is headed to one of his few remaining campaign days in a far-flung battleground state, despite what his team claims is a smart strategy to garner national media attention. Regardless, some political commentators are stunned.
“It makes no sense strategically,” said Tim O’Brien, a Trump biographer who wrote “Trump Nation: How to Be Donald.” He added: “This is just King Kong climbing the Empire State Building again.”
Historic venue for historic elections
Home to four arenas of the same name in three different locations in Manhattan since 1879, Madison Square Garden is a historic venue of choice for entertainers and politicians over the years. Trump will join former presidents such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon on “The Garden” playlist.
The current MSG, which opened in 1968, has been the site of the 1971 “Fight of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, as well as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush on their way to victory in the White House. He has hosted a variety of events, ranging from nominated political conventions. Home of basketball’s New York Knicks and hockey’s New York Rangers.
The previous garden also hosted the infamous event that Trump’s critics have highlighted in the lead up to Sunday. The German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group, held a rally in the garden in 1939, two years before the United States entered World War II. That moment came in recent days after former Trump chief of staff John Kelly said in a New York Times interview that the former president “said many times, ‘Look, Hitler did some good things, too.'” I visited. The former president immediately refused.
Ahead of his rally at Madison Square Garden, President Trump has announced a serious bid for New York, a state with 28 Electoral College votes, ahead of California (54) and Texas ( (40 votes), which will rank fourth in 2024 behind Florida (30 votes). ).
Harris has organized her own large-scale media events, including Friday’s rally in Houston with cultural icons Beyoncé and Willie Nelson, as the Democratic Party has defeated two-term Senate candidate Colin Allred. He hopes it will help push Republican Sen. Ted Cruz toward an upset. The Democratic presidential candidate is also planning an event at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. The Ellipse was the site of a Trump rally prior to the January 6, 2021, riot.
But Trump’s aides acknowledge that the upset in the Empire State is long-term, just as California is in the Harris State and Texas and Florida are in the Republican stronghold. They instead described Sunday’s event as part of President Trump’s continued effort to host media events that garner national attention during his forays into battleground states.
From descending the escalator in the lobby of his namesake Trump Tower before announcing his 2015 presidential campaign to posing for a photo at McDonald’s last Sunday, Trump has always found creative ways to attract attention. Ta. This cycle, he made a splash by making a triumphant return to the scene in Pennsylvania where he was shot in the ear by an assassin two months earlier.
“It’s all about the media,” one aide said, adding that in this case, “New York is the media capital of the world.”
Trump is a native New Yorker and always wanted to be the main act at the Garden, aides said. He has been a regular at the 19,500-seat arena for many years, and in a recent interview said he watched the Ali vs. Frazier fight there more than half a century ago, calling it “probably the biggest event.” .
Not all memories of Trump are good. In 2019, then-President Trump heard boos when he entered the Garden for a UFC match. Gwenda Blair, a longtime Trump biographer, said the garden’s association with rock stars, celebrities and fighter jets reflects the larger-than-life image Trump cultivates. .
“That image surrounds the very combination of rock star and heavyweight champion,” said Blair, author of “Trump: Three Generations That Built an Empire.” She added: “Those things are very evident in it, and Madison Square Garden gets referenced a lot. That in itself would make it look like he won a championship.”
Republican candidate in New York, California
Trump’s allies reject the idea that his New York rally has little or no strategic benefit.
In addition to garnering national media attention, it could help boost turnout for Republican U.S. House candidates, they note. Mr. Trump needs the support of a majority in Congress to carry out the second-term agenda he has promised during a bitter campaign, but it is a toss-up in New York, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. There are three House races that could be considered as such, two of which are against Republican incumbents. And the other one is a Democrat.
The Republican presidential candidate is also holding fundraisers around New York events to raise much-needed campaign funds. Harris raised $222 million through her primary campaign account in September, compared to $63 million for Trump. These numbers do not include other political committees that raise large sums of money to support individual candidates.
Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Madison Square Garden would be a “high water mark” for Trump, “because he’s a real New Yorker and he’s really excited.”
“People keep saying, ‘Well, shouldn’t he be in Wisconsin?’ Shouldn’t he be? … No. He’s everywhere every day because the TV is covering him. ” Gingrich added. “He’s going to get a lot of press at Madison Square Garden, he’s going to be happy and excited and the crowd is going to go crazy.”
Trump held a rally earlier this month in Coachella, California, another blue state where Trump has little chance of winning.
“This tactic of tapping into uncompetitive media markets and states in the final weeks of an election is not a typical strategy, but he’s also not a typical candidate,” said Steve, who teaches political advertising and messaging at the University of Southern California.・Mr. Caplan says. He has been involved in Democratic politics and media work for decades.
Caplan added that the Madison Square Garden rally is a “great opportunity to get attention,” but if it goes “out of line,” it could turn off uneasy voters. .
The Harris campaign is also planning events outside of battleground states. An event she held in Texas on Friday with pop superstar Beyoncé highlighted the state’s restrictive abortion laws, which have made abortion rights a centerpiece of her campaign. On the same day, President Trump held a counterprogramming event in Texas focused on immigration.
The rallies in New York and California in the final month of the election are not the only unconventional part of President Trump’s campaign strategy in the final months of the election. She also plans to hold additional debates after her Sept. 10 matchup with Harris in Philadelphia, as well as mainstream media interviews that are likely to be more confrontational, especially traditional ones such as CBS’ “60 Minutes.” We have also avoided such events.
President Trump was dissatisfied with the way the major TV networks were treating them and threatened to revoke their broadcast licenses. He has devoted much of his time to conservative and alternative media to shore up his support base and appeal to ordinary voters.
Mr. Trump has increasingly been in the spotlight in recent weeks for his provocative statements, which Mr. Caplan said may have contributed to the tighter polls.
“It’s good in his mind to be the center of attention in the last two weeks, and he’s very good at it. But is it specifically affecting the race?” Caplan instead pointed to a shift in the paid media strategy the Trump campaign is deploying.
The Trump campaign pivoted to ads that focused on attacks on transgender people and gender-affirming care. Caplan said that may have contributed to the rise in negative opinion of Harris after her approval ratings soared this summer.
At the same time, the campaign is trying to increase turnout among Trump supporters, and the rally at Madison Square Garden could help.
“That’s the name of the game. It’s about mobilizing and motivating voters,” Caplan said.
New York may be President Trump’s biggest stage in the nation, but it’s also another destination in his final push to the finish line on Nov. 5. The Republican, who hopes to join Grover Cleveland as only the second president to win non-consecutive terms in the White House, will be in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night and in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Wednesday night. He plans to hold a rally and return to the battleground state. .
