CNN —
Donald Trump kicked off the final full week of the presidential campaign Sunday with a rally at Madison Square Garden, filling the iconic venue and reaching television and phone screens in all seven battleground states. He relies on his showmanship to create a spectacular spectacle. state.
The former president returns to his hometown of New York City. Republicans do not expect virtually any victory on the Deep Blue Lawn, but signs of dissatisfaction and struggles in state and local Democratic leadership could help endangered Republican incumbents secure House seats in surrounding suburbs. There is sex.
It’s the latest in a series of President Trump’s trips to blue states, including a rally in California’s Coachella Valley this month, a rally on Long Island over the summer and a recent stop in Chicago for an economic forum. Included.
Each time, President Trump uses dehumanizing language to lay the blame for increased crime and immigration at the feet of his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I will rescue every town across America that has been invaded and conquered,” he said Thursday in Las Vegas.
The Madison Square Garden event follows the precedent set by past campaigns. The venue boasts an extensive political history, including previous locations. It has hosted presidents such as Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and hosted the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, most recently the 2004 Republican Convention. It is also famous for hosting John F. Kennedy’s birthday celebration in 1962. , when Marilyn Monroe performed her iconic serenade for the president.
But Madison Square Garden’s history is not without controversy. More divisive events were held, such as the infamous “pro-American rally” of 1939. The rally was sponsored by the German American League and was a pro-Nazi rally attended by thousands of people in preparation for World War II. A few days later, a Communist Party rally filled the venue. In 1968, once-racist Alabama Governor George Wallace pushed a message of law and order in a Garden speech days before the presidential election, winning about 10 million votes and leading the third party. He fielded five states as candidates. .
For Trump, Sunday’s events mean more than just a campaign halt. It was also an important moment for him personally. The former president has long expressed a desire to take the stage at the Midtown Manhattan landmark. His name will likely be on the same kind of billboard that has frequently hosted guests like Billy Joel, Elton John, and other legendary entertainers.
Although New York remains a safe blue state, Trump has publicly said he thinks he can win, a belief his campaign officials acknowledge is far from reality.
“We think we have a chance to win New York for the first time in decades, and frankly, what’s happening now with immigrants taking over the city and taking over the entire state. “We think there’s real potential in this,” he said on Fox News Radio. In 1984, Ronald Reagan was the last Republican presidential candidate to carry the Empire State.
It has also been more than 20 years since the Republican Party won a statewide election in New York, most recently in 2002, when former Governor George Pataki was elected to a third term.
But Republicans have expressed hope that the event will help boost support among vulnerable New York Republicans vying to keep their House seats in November. Several of them joined Trump on a call Saturday hosted by New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the fourth-ranking Republican in the House, to promote early voting. Several of them also appeared at President Trump’s September event at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.
But none of them are on the speaker list released by the Trump campaign for the Madison Square Garden rally.
Sunday’s rally will also serve as one of Trump’s biggest fundraisers to date, officials said. Donors are offered a series of packages including VIP suites, special “pre-event” tickets at the venue, backstage passes and photo opportunities.
“The Trump campaign is going to make a crazy amount of money from this event,” a person familiar with the guest list told CNN.
Dozens of Republican lawmakers, allies, donors and celebrities are expected to attend. According to the Trump campaign, speakers at the rally include the president’s former running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, tech mogul Elon Musk, former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They are expected to include House Speaker Mike Johnson, Stefanik and former New York City Mayor Rudy. Giuliani and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
A source close to Trump told CNN that many popular internet celebrities and rappers have supported the former president during the campaign, and many are likely to be in attendance on Sunday.
Sources close to Trump say there are systems in place to prevent Trump’s critics from applying for tickets without intending to attend, something some allies have expressed concern about. There is.
Trump will not participate in any of the seven states that both sides expect will decide the outcome of the Nov. 5 election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, but the former president’s aides said said he expected Sunday’s election results. Hold a rally to elicit extensive media coverage.
“It’s New York City. It’s the largest media market in the world,” a campaign aide told CNN. “This is the epicenter of everything.”
CNN’s Danya Gainor contributed to this report.
