By james art Madison Square Garden, the iconic venue known for Knicks basketball games and Billy Joel concerts, will host the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump tonight in dark blue new york. With Election Day just over a week away, more than 40 million voters have already weighed in on whose vision of America they hope will prevail.
Trump’s election to the seat — in a solidly Democratic city in a state that hasn’t gone red since the election of Ronald Reagan — appears to have more to do with garnering media attention, fundraising and staking a claim to the president’s former hometown. than changing hearts and minds.
The city has beefed up security around the ‘World’s Most Famous Arena’, where eager fans are outside even before sunrise.
“It’s New York, but it’s also, you know, it’s MSG, it’s Madison Square Garden,” Trump said during a recent interview with FOX News Radio. “Guys like you and me, those words mean a lot. Madison Square Garden, right? Don’t you think so? … It’s a very big stop.
Joining Trump on stage, according to the lineup provided by the campaign, is an all-star cast of MAGA loyalists, who are all. This group — ranging from elected officials to Trump’s personal friends — has been instrumental in keeping his campaign afloat, defending his increasingly inflammatory remarks and pushing right-wing ideology into every corner of the Internet. While some of tonight’s speakers have personal, political and professional relationships with the former president, they also represent certain spheres of influence within the ever-evolving MAGA Republican Party.
Here’s a look at who’s who tonight:
SELECTED PERSONS
After spending the morning on the Sunday newscasts, the Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will be at MSG tonight. He was joined by the Speaker of the Chamber Mike Johnsonwho recently said Trump’s medical records were “irrelevant.”
Other representatives of the Chamber, Elise Stefanik from upstate New York and Byron Donalds of Southwest Florida, will also speak. Stefanik went from moderate to MAGA spokeswoman, delivering a fiery speech at the 2020 GOP convention about “the baseless and illegal Democratic impeachment scam and the media’s endless obsession with it.” Donald was reportedly on the phone with Trump when he got the news that the classified case had been dropped, noting that he personally thought the case was “crazy.”
FORMER AND CURRENT TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Former mayor of New York Rudy Giulianiwho has had a lot of Ls lately, will be at MSG today. After Trump lost to the President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, he tapped Giuliani to lead legal efforts to challenge the results. As a result of his actions in pursuit of this goal, Giuliani was ordered by a federal judge to surrender, as Vanity Fairis Bess Levin said: “Basically all the earthly possessions of election workers he defamed.”