20,000 in the heart of Manhattan: Trump trolls New York City as much as possible

20,000 in the heart of Manhattan
Trump is trolling New York City as much as possible

Von Roland Peters, New York
October 27, 2024, 10:45 am

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He lives in Florida, but Donald Trump‘s home is New York City. Now the son of the city appears as a presidential candidate in Madison Square Garden. Shortly before the election, right in the middle of the Democratic stronghold.

The status of Donald Trump’s relationship with New York is: complicated. The Republican is a son of the city, an exile who only exists occasionally. Or if he has to. Like recently when he had to attend a money hush trial in Manhattan criminal court and was ultimately found guilty on all counts. He can hardly hope to achieve something in the upcoming presidential election in the state with the same name or in his city. Four years ago, about 76 percent of New Yorkers voted against it. The state went to his opponent Joe Biden with 61 percent.

Nevertheless, he will hold a rally this Sunday at Madison Square Garden, the legendary place in the heart of Manhattan. Nine days before November 5th, when Americans will be asked to go to the polls on the last day. When it is decided whether Trump will be allowed into the White House for another term – or the Democrat Kamala Harris. Why is Trump spending his time in the last part of the campaign for New York City?

Although Trump has a slim chance of winning in the city and therefore in the state, he may not have much confidence. But it’s more of a strength: Look, even in New York City, almost 20,000 people come to see me. For Trump, who has almost always referred to the size of the population in Washington since his inauguration in January 2017, this will likely prove his popularity. Because his opponent Harris has been filling halls that are at least as big as he is, even more so.

Without New York, there would be no Donald Trump

He also wears the mark that has been his trademark since the first assassination attempt: Fight, fight, fight. Trump is fighting, not giving up on New York City, even if it seems hopeless. In addition, there is such an event in Madison Square Garden, with a parade of prominent guests (including, according to media reports, the tech billionaire Elon Musk), where Trump will spread his anti-immigrant tirades and noises about deportation plans, the highest trolling of the progressive-democratic stronghold. He has lived in Florida for a long time.

New York is one holy citya so-called sanctuary city that does not help the national immigration authorities to take action against migrants without a residence permit or even deport them. As of 2022, more than 400,000 of the city’s 8 million residents were undocumented.

Trump is not very popular in the city, but it is home. He was born here, he had his first estate projects with the support of his father, he became a personality on the boulevard and a welcome face for the circuit. Even today, the New York Post, owned by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, reports, if not positively about Trump, at least negatively about his competitors. The newspaper does not always take the truth seriously. On the TV show “The Apprentice” he gave birth like a tough company boss. “You’re fired!” it became one of his trademarks.

The broadcasts were recorded in his Trump Tower in Manhattan. It was there, a few blocks south of Central Park, that he rode down the golden escalator at Trump Tower in June 2015 and announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Now he plays at Madison Square Garden, about 15 minutes away by car. If there were counter-demonstrations or even fights in the streets in front of him, as a presidential candidate he could say: Look, we are the peaceful activists for freedom of expression. But out there, the violent Democrats are rampaging; New York City has come this far already.