By james art NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is finally getting his moment at Madison Square Garden.
With just over a week to go before Election Day, the former president will take the stage in one of the country’s most iconic venues, hosting a rally in his hometown to deliver the closing message of his campaign against the Democratic vice president Kamala Harris.
“Madison Square Garden is the center of the universe,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller, noting the storied history of the venue, which has hosted events including the 1971 Battle of the Century.
The rally is one of a series of detours Trump has made to battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California — best known for the famous music festival named after the city — and one this summer at the Jersey Shore. This summer he campaigned in the South Bronx.
Although some Democrats and TV pundits questioned Trump’s decision to hold what they dismissed as vanity events, the rally guaranteed Trump what he craved most: the spotlight, wall-to-wall coverage and a national audience.
Along with trying to energize his base, the Trump campaign is trying to woo the few remaining undecided voters, many of whom don’t get their news from traditional media.
To reach them, Trump spent hours on popular podcasts. And his campaign has worked to create viral moments like his visit last weekend to a McDonald’s restaurant, where he made fries and served them to supporters through a car 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 Madison Square Garden. There’s going to be people getting involved from battleground states across the country,” said former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican and ally of the former president who said Trump had talked about holding an event at the site from the beginning of his campaign.
Harris has also traveled to non-battlefield countries for major events designed to deliver a national message. She appeared in Houston on Friday with music superstar Beyoncé to talk about reproductive rights and will deliver her own closing arguments on Tuesday from the Ellipse in Washington, where Trump is speaking ahead of the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021.
Trump will be joined at the rally by supporters including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has spent tens of millions of dollars boosting his campaign.
“The most famous arena in the world”
Trump is often compared to the biggest entertainers in the country. The former reality TV star has long talked about wanting to hold a rally at the venue, dubbed “The Most Famous Arena in the World,” raising 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 Party Chairman Ed Cox.
While Trump continued to insist the rally was part of his effort to win New York — a state incumbent Joe Biden won four years ago with more than 60 percent of the vote — he made it clear it was 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 so? … This is a very big stop.”
The venue also has a history in politics, hosting events with Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1962, John F. Kennedy Jr. hosted a birthday party at the stadium, where Marilyn Monroe famously sang “Happy Birthday to You, Mr. President.”
But if there’s one piece of Garden history that Trump might want to replicate, it’s when Grover Cleveland accepted his party’s nomination in 1892, three years after he left the White House. He won the election, becoming the first and only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Home control may pass through the New York suburbs
Aside from the national spotlight and the allure of appearing on one of the world’s most famous stages, state Republicans say the rally will also help push candidates away.
New York is home to a handful of competitive congressional races that could determine which party controls the House next year.
Zeldin ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, but did better than expected, boosting turnout in competitive districts that helped House Republicans win a slim majority. That underscores, he said, the importance of the top of the ticket doing as well as possible. He said the garden event was sure to be on the news in high-stakes areas like suburban Long Island, where Trump held a packed, raucous rally last month.
Trump will also use the shutdown as a big fundraising opportunity as he continues to trail Harris seriously in the money race.
A native returns to the city that created and condemned him
New York hasn’t voted for a Republican for president in 40 years. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from continuing to insist he believes he can win.
“We think there’s a chance,” he said on “The Brian Kilmead Show” earlier this week, citing frustration with the influx of migrants into the city and concerns about crime.
Trump routinely uses his hometown as a foil to audiences in other states, painting a bleak vision of the city that bears little resemblance to reality. He presents it as riddled with crime and 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 and which has made him a tabloid and reality TV star. Its residents charged him last year with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He was found guilty in that case and was also found liable in civil court for business fraud and sexual assault.
___
Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Novi, Michigan contributed to this report.
Jill Colvin, Associated Press