Supporters of New York Trump are optimistic that the former president can win the very liberal state on November 5.
Donald Trump will hold a rally at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on Sunday evening in an effort to win over voters in the Big Apple.
But supporters who lined up hours before his arrival don’t think Trump winning in 2024 is an impossibility.
‘I think it will be closer than ever. If he doesn’t accept it, it’s going to be close,” Melissa Vitelli, 37, of Brooklyn, told DailyMail.com as she waited to gain entry to The Garden.
The rally will feature a stacked lineup of speakers including Elon Musk, UFC CEO Dana White, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., conservative media personality Tucker Carlson and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
‘I think [the election] will be closer than ever. If [Trump] don’t take it, it’s close,” Melissa Vitelli, 37, of Brooklyn, told DailyMail.com as she waited to gain entry to Sunday’s rally
New Yorkers who support Trump predict he has a chance to win the liberal state that has voted blue in every presidential election since 1988
Some have questioned the site selection with just over a week until Election Day, but pro-MAGA New Yorkers are confident Trump could pull it off, despite the state voting Democratic every cycle since 1988. presidential elections.
“I think people said in 2016 that Donald Trump could never win the United States, that’s never going to happen. New York is in many ways a cultural mirror of what’s going on,” Michael Rydelek, 27, told DailyMail.com.
“And as crazy as the 2016 win was, I think we’re looking at the same thing in 2024,” the Rockland County resident speculated. “You have a lot of people in New York City who are aware that something needs to change and who are willing to make that change happen. New York City plays a major role in that whole.’
“People say, ‘Why is Trump in Madison Square Garden?’ Well, he plays for New York,” Rydelek added.
Another New Yorker said she thinks Trump has a shot at another term after hearing people openly talk about casting their ballots for the ex-president when she went early voting on Saturday.
“You have a lot of people in New York City who are aware that something needs to change and who are willing to make that change happen. New York City plays a big role in that equation,” Michael Rydelek, 27, told DailyMail.com. “And as crazy as the win in 2016 was, I think we’re looking at the same thing in 2024.”
Thousands lined up outside Madison Square Garden on Sunday to enter the arena for Donald Trump’s rally just nine days before the 2024 election
Gladys Picket, 80, of Westchester said she left her house at 7:30 a.m. to go to The Garden to see Trump speak, just nine days before the 2024 election.
“My area is very liberal and so are the people I’m surrounded by,” the Puerto Rican-American said. ‘Yesterday, when I went to vote, I was surprised by the attitude of the people waiting in line. And it was amazing to see people actually talking openly about voting for Trump.”
Vitelli said she has even seen a shift in her Brooklyn neighborhood, even as a New York Times/Siena College poll released Saturday shows Brooklyn favoring Harris 60 percent and Trump 33 percent.
Gladys Picket, 80, of Westchester said she heard people talking about voting for Donald Trump during early voting on Saturday, even in her very liberal neighborhood
“I live in a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood, Borough Park – they have Trump flags up. They are relatively known for voting Democratic. And it has, it has changed,” Vitelli said.
“It was actually really fun to watch,” she continued. “And they understand that the corruption runs deep.”
“There’s definitely more of a shift,” Vitelli said of Brooklyn’s political preferences from 2016 to 2020 and then from 2020 to this year’s elections.
“I think the media had a lot to do with it,” she added. ‘The more negative they are towards him, the more people wake up. Okay, he’s going to be the target. And we think as citizens: if he can become a target, we can be one too.’
Vitelli already cast her vote for Trump on Saturday when early voting started in New York.