Donald Trump is heading to New York City’s renowned Madison Square Garden to make his closing argument to Americans about why he should be back in the White House.
The sold out event will see roughly 20,000 MAGA fans come out just nine days before what could be the closest presidential election in history as Trump and Kamala Harris are virtually tied in every poll.
Trump choosing to hold one of his final rallies at Madison Square Garden is curious as Harris is polling a solid 14 points ahead of him in the state.
While New York is a solidly blue state, the Big Apple is still Trump’s original hometown and where the billionaire started his business empire several decades ago.
And he hopes to infuse momentum into several crucial down-ballot races in the state that Republicans need to hold onto if they want to keep their slim majority in the House of Representatives.
Former TV star Trump loves a show and MSG is bound to give him the spectacle he desires.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is seen during the UFC 295 event at Madison Square Garden on November 11, 2023 in New York City. He is set to return to the venue for a massive rally this Sunday. His former political rival, Hillary Clinton, likened the rally to a Nazi event
Meanwhile, Democrats are slamming his venue selection as they try and paint him as a ‘dictator’ in the days before the election.
Just this week, Hillary Clinton called back to a Nazi event at MSG and said the former president is a ‘fascist.’
Trump’s 2016 rival compared the upcoming event to the 1939 pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden just over six months before World War II broke out.
‘You know, one other thing that you’ll see next week is Trump actually reenacting the Madison Square Garden rally in 1939,’ Clinton said in an interview with CNN on Thursday evening.
She went on: ‘Neo-Nazis, fascists, in America were lining up to essentially pledge their support for the kind of government that they were seeing in Germany. So I don’t think we can ignore it.’
It comes on the heels of Kamala Harris calling Trump a ‘fascist’ after his former Chief of Staff John Kelly accused him of being a fan of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who will be attending the MSG rally this weekend, told DailyMail.com Clinton’s comments are ‘disgusting’ and ‘pathetic.’
‘It just shows you why people rejected Hillary Clinton [in 2016],’ he went on. ‘I mean that hateful, negative and divisive rhetoric is a thing of the past. People are fed up with it, and it needs to end. And it should be rejected by everybody, you know, Republicans, Democrats alike.’
Usually in the last run-up to the election, the main candidates spend all their time in critical battleground states, of which New York is not one.
Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are the seven swing states essential to nab for a victory next month.
But Trump has courted New Yorkers’ votes this election cycle despite the state voting for Democrats every presidential election cycle since 1988.
He held several events in the state like at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island last month where he told his supporters: ‘We are going to win New York.’
‘President Trump’s been expanding the playing field,’ Scalise assured, suggesting that no state is out of play for the Republican nominee.
And New York City is a nostalgic location for Trump despite its increasing leftward tilt.
‘New York is the media capital of the world,’ Trump campaign senior adviser Tim Murtaugh told DailyMail.com when describing the former president’s selection of the venue.
He added: ‘There’s gonna be more television cameras at this rally, probably than any rally to date, and it will be beamed directly into all of the battleground states.’
Murtaugh explained that the MSG rally will be like Trump’s political homecoming in the Empire State where his family is from and his businessman persona was born.
‘You know, it’s where Trump Tower is, it’s where he built his empire, where he became Donald Trump in the first place,’ Murtaugh disclosed of the personal relevance the city has to the former president.
‘We’re nearing the end,’ he continued. ‘It’s not the final event, but it is building to the finish.’
‘And to headline at Madison Square Garden is an event that really is fitting to reflect what Donald Trump has built.’
And it’s a great main stage for Trump to make a final pitch to voters: Kamala broke it, and Trump will fix it.
Scalise is looking forward to the rally, noting: ‘Madison Square Garden is such a historic venue, and it’s a large venue, which shows you the confidence that President Trump has.’
‘I mean he’s going to fill that arena up with excited people who are happy about and optimistic about this message that President Trump has been delivering all across the country,’ the congressman said.
Madison Square Garden is a historic site that still holds massive concerts and events today.
Both Democratic and Republican National Conventions have been held at The Garden since the 1800s. MSG was the site of the 1976, 1980 and 1992 Democratic National Conventions and the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Adding to the lore of the arena, it was also the site of the famous birthday bash for John F. Kennedy in 1962 when Marilyn Monroe took stage to sing Happy Birthday to the then-president.
On Thursday evening Hillary Clinton likened Trump’s MSG rally to a pro-Nazi event held at the same venue in 1939. She also called Trump a ‘fascist’
Trump’s last visit to MSG came in November 2023 when he attended a UFC event. He was joined by UFC CEO Dana White, show host Tucker Carlson and musician Kid Rock
A stacked lineup of guests and speakers are expected to grace the stage or appear around the MSG arena on Sunday.
This includes members of Republican congressional leadership like Scalise, House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik.
‘We’re getting into the closing days of the election and you can feel not only the energy and the positive momentum, but you also know that we’re literally just days away from the most consequential election of a lifetime,’ Scalise told DailyMail.com when asked why there will be such a big show of congressional support at the rally.
‘And we’re all going to run through the tape and leave it all out on the field.’
He added: ‘And, you know, Kamala Harris couldn’t fill up a venue like that because she doesn’t have a positive message that people are rallying around. And so it just shows one more contrast between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris and why President Trump is appealing to so many people.’
A view outside the Madison Square Garden
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, UFC president Dana White, and Kid Rock pose fora photo during the UFC 295 event at Madison Square Garden on November 11, 2023 in New York City
The Republican has a history of visiting the arena, pictured above at the area in 1991 next to his ex-wife Marla Maples
Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said he is looking forward to the rally at MSG on Sunday
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, who represents an upstate New York district, told DailyMail.com that Trump’s visit to MSG will help Republicans in competitive races in the state.
‘Trump is a lift on every Republican candidate running for office across the country, and that’s the case for the New York congressional district where he’s over performing where he was in 2016 and 2020,’ she said. ‘So this is a boost for Republicans.’
Specifically she thinks the former president’s trip could impact two close New York races.
The GOP Conference Chair said she expects Republican candidates in New York’s 3rd and 18th Congressional Districts – both seats currently held by Democrats – to benefit from the trip.
‘President Trump on the ballot is a net gain for House Republicans,’ she said.
Stefanik said that Trump’s visit to New York will help local Republicans in their races
Stefanik noted there is a ‘political realignment’ happening in the Empire State and Trump has led the charge on that front. She also noted how traditional New York Democrats have had low favorability ratings, making Trump seem like a better option to some.
‘President Trump has higher approval ratings in the state of New York than the Democrat sitting governor,’ she claimed. ‘Eric Adams is the least popular New York Mayor, even less so than Bill de Blasio.’
‘So there are interesting things happening, and President Trump knows that he has helped drive that and lead the way for Republicans.’
Trump’s return to MSG is scheduled for Sunday evening at 5 pm ET.
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