NEW YORK– NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump finally gets his Madison Square Garden moment.
With just over a week to go before Election Day, the former president will take the stage at one of the country’s most iconic locations, where he will host a rally in his hometown to deliver the closing message of his campaign against the Democratic vice president. President Kamala Harris.
“Madison Square Garden is the center of the universe,” said Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, noting the storied history of the site that has hosted events including the 1971 “Fight of the Century.”
The rally is part of a series of detours Trump has made from battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California — best known for the famous music festival named after the city — and one over the summer on the Jersey Shore . This summer he campaigned the South Bronx.
While some Democrats and TV pundits have questioned Trump’s decision to hold what they dismiss as vanity events, the meeting guarantees Trump what he craves most: the spotlight, wall-to-wall coverage and a national audience.
In addition to efforts to reinvigorate his base, Trump’s campaign has also sought to court the few remaining undecided voters, many of whom do not get their news through traditional channels.
To reach them, Trump has spent hours on popular podcasts. And his campaign has created viral moments, like his visit last weekend to a McDonald’s restaurant, where he made fries and served supporters through the drive-thru window. The video of the stop posted by his campaign has been viewed more than 40 million times on TikTok alone.
“He’s not just going to speak to those in attendance at Madison Square Garden. There will be people tuning in to battleground states from all over the country,” said former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican and ally of the former president, who said Trump has talked about having a to hold an event at the location. of his campaign.
Harris has also traveled to non-battleground states for major events designed to spread a national message. She appeared in Houston on Friday with music superstar Beyoncé to speak about reproductive rights, and will deliver her own closing argument Tuesday from the Ellipse in Washington, where Trump spoke ahead of January 6, 2021 Insurrection at the Capitol.
Trump will be joined at the rally by supporters including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has spent tens of millions of dollars to boost his campaign.
Trump often compares himself to the country’s biggest entertainers. The former reality TV star has long talked about wanting to hold a gathering at the venue dubbed ‘The World’s Most Famous Arena’, bringing up the idea in interviews and private conversations.
“New York is part of his DNA. Madison Square Garden is part of his DNA,” said New York State Republican Chairman Ed Cox.
While Trump continues to insist that the rally is part of his effort to win New York — a state that President Joe Biden carried with more than 60% of the vote four years ago — he has made clear that it is also personal.
“It’s New York, but it’s also, you know, it’s MSG, it’s Madison Square Garden,” Trump said during a recent radio interview. “Guys like you and me, those words mean a lot. Madison Square Garden, right? Don’t you think? … It’s a really big stop.”
The location has that too a history in politics, organizing events with Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1962, John F. Kennedy Jr. a birthday celebration at the stadium where Marilyn Monroe performed the famous ‘Happy Birthday to You, Mr. President” sang.
But if there’s one piece of Garden history Trump might want to replicate, it’s when Grover Cleveland accepted his party’s nomination in 1892, three years after leaving the White House. He subsequently won the election and became the first and only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Besides the national spotlight and the allure of appearing on one of the world’s most famous stages, Republicans in the state say the rally will also help debase the candidates.
New York is home to a handful of competitive congressional races that could determine which party controls the House of Representatives next year.
Zeldin unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022, but did better than expected and drove turnout in competitive districts, giving Republicans a slim majority in the House of Representatives. That underscored, he said, how important it is for the top of the ticket to do as well as possible. He said the Garden event will certainly appear on newscasts in areas where high-stakes races are taking place, such as the suburbs of Long Island, where Trump held a crowded, raucous rally last month.
Trump will also use the stop as a big fundraising opportunity, as he is still seriously behind Harris in the money race.
New York hasn’t voted for a Republican as president in forty years. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from insisting he believes he can win.
“We think there is an opportunity,” he said earlier this week on “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” pointing to frustrations over the influx of migrants into the city and concerns about crime.
Trump routinely uses his hometown as a foil for audiences in other states, painting a dark vision of the city that bears little resemblance to reality. He calls it a crime-ridden area overrun by violent immigrant gangs that have taken over Fifth and Madison Avenues and occupied Times Square.
Trump has a complicated history with the place where he built his business empire that made him a tabloid and reality TV star. Residents charged him last year with 34 counts of falsifying company records. He was found guilty in that case and also held liable in civil court for corporate fraud and sexual abuse.
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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Novi, Michigan, contributed to this report.