Former President Donald Trump made an ambitious pledge to win New York state while headlining a packed Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, drawing 20,000 supporters for a marathon five-hour event that featured controversial moments and surprise appearances, according to the Daily Mail.
The rally, held just nine days before the 2024 election, marked Trump's return to his home city and included an unexpected campaign appearance by former First Lady Melania Trump, who introduced her husband as "the next commander-in-chief."
??HAPPENING NOW: Here is footage of the historic line at the Madison Square garden in New York City where Trump will host a rally in 5 hours. This election is over. pic.twitter.com/vrWQVD9fuG
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) October 27, 2024
"We want to win our country, but we also want to win New York and make it safe and strong and beautiful and affordable and vibrant again," Trump told the energetic crowd. "When I left, New York was the place you wanted to be, and now people just don't speak well of it. But we're going to bring it back. And we're going to bring it back strong."
The 78-year-old former president was joined by a lineup of high-profile supporters, including Elon Musk, Dr. Phil, Tucker Carlson, and UFC figures Dana White and Hulk Hogan. However, the event was not without controversy.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe sparked backlash by calling Puerto Rico a "floating pile of garbage," which drew condemnation from several Latino celebrities. A Trump campaign spokesperson later distanced the campaign from the comments, stating: "This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign."
Trump's childhood friend David Rem delivered a fiery speech while waving a crucifix, making inflammatory comments about Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her "the devil" and "the antichrist." Businessman Grant Cardone said Harris "and her pimp handlers will destroy our country."
Republican leaders expressed optimism about Trump's chances in New York despite the state having voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1988. GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik claimed Trump had "been talking about for years" about holding a rally at Madison Square Garden. The former president's son, Donald Trump Jr., declared to the crowd: "The king of New York is back to reclaim the city that he built."
Radio persona Sid Rosenberg said, "I just got back from Israel about two weeks ago. They love Trump in Israel. Just you know, they love him." He added, "I get back and they go, 'Sid, you want to speak at this MSG thing?' I go, 'Sure – out of character for me to speak at a Nazi rally. I was just in Israel.' But I took the gig." His reference to the rally being Nazi comes in response to Democrats accusing Trump of being similar to the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
