By james art Former President Trump will showcase his flamboyant style Sunday at a campaign rally at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden, an event expected to draw thousands of supporters.
The rally in “the most famous arena in the world” comes as Trump heads into a deep-blue state that last supported a Republican in 1984. Home to the NBA’s New York Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers, the Garden has a long tradition of being host political events near election day.
In 1968, segregationist platform candidate and Alabama governor George Wallace held a campaign rally at the site a week before the election, which was ultimately won by Richard Nixon, a Republican.
Nixon hosted a Halloween rally in the Garden a week before his election day victory during one of the most tumultuous periods in American history.
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Attendees arrive before a campaign event with former President Donald Trump, not pictured, at Madison Square Garden in New York, US, on Sunday. The Republican presidential nominee returns to his hometown on Sunday for an event at an iconic venue that has been a magnet for celebrities and the center of some of the nation’s biggest cultural moments. (Getty Images)
On October 31, 1964, incumbent Democratic President Lyndon Johnson addressed his fellow Democrats at the “old” MSG site, which was 16 blocks north of the current Garden.
“I came to New York in the final hours of this campaign,” Johnson said. “I’m coming to tell you one more time that your president is going to need your prayers and your president is going to need your support, and your president is also going to need congressional Democrats in the House of Representatives and Bob Kennedy in the Senate.”
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American politician and current (and ultimately successful) candidate for President of the United States Richard Nixon (1913 – 1994) addresses supporters during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, October 31, 1968. (David Fenton/Getty Images)
Before Johnson, incumbent Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower came to the Garden in October 1956 to rally his troops for the Eisenhower/Nixon ticket. It works.
During his speech, Eisenhower addressed the economy and the Cold War with the Soviet Union that had begun a few years earlier.
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George Wallace and Curtis LeMay on stage at his campaign rally in Madison Square Garden. (Circa Images/GHI/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“Of course, there is nothing amusing when the political techniques of the opposition spill over into world affairs,” he said. “They insist on a vigorous and realistic policy toward the Communist Empire — and propose that we begin in our relations with the Soviet Union by entrusting our national security to agreements that have no effective safeguards and no checks.”
“I respond to such proposals with one firm conviction. There is no political campaign to justify a moratorium on common sense,” he added.
Days before he defeated Republican candidate Thomas Dewey of New York in 1948, President Harry Truman, a Democrat, visited MSG, where he said his opponent continued to follow him around the country.
President Harry S. Truman delivers a speech during his second presidential campaign on October 28, 1948 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The caption behind Truman reads: “In the tradition of FDR with Truman. Truman’s Vice President Alben W. Barkley stands to Truman’s left. (Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images)
“The White House doctor told me not to worry. He said, “Go on your way. There’s one place that man won’t follow you — and that’s in the White House,” Truman said before attacking the Republican Party.
“The Republican nominee may follow me all the way from Los Angeles to Madison Square Garden, but the Republican record is certain that he will still be behind when the votes are counted,” he said. “He’s doing everything he can to make you forget this record. He doesn’t dare talk about it. I’ve never been in a campaign in my life where the opposition flat-out refused to discuss campaign issues. I can’t understand that kind of thing.” approach, but after analyzing the situation, I have come to the conclusion that the Republican Party’s record is too bad to talk about.”
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Franklin D. Roosevelt hosted a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in 1940. (Getty Images)
On October 28, 1940, Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt speaks to supporters before winning his election against Republican candidate Wendell Willkie.
In his remarks, FDR addressed the Great Depression and World War II raging in Europe and the increase in defense spending amid threats from abroad.
He accused Republicans of playing politics with America’s defense as war rages in Europe and Asia amid pressure to isolate the US to stay out of the conflict.
“I say that the Republican leaders played defense politics in 1938 and 1939,” FDR said. I say they are playing politics with our national security today.
Embracing the regulated Nazi salute, Bund members salute the swastika flag as it is unfurled over Madison Square Garden during the opening ceremonies of the German-American Bund’s “Pro-American Celebration of George Washington’s Birthday.” (Getty Images)
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Herbert Hoover addressed a crowd at MSG on October 22, 1928, before winning his election. Despite the long list of presidents who have graced the venue, MSG has also hosted some controversial gatherings, including the infamous “Pro-American Rally” of 1939.
The event was organized by the pro-Nazi German American Bund and was attended by thousands on the eve of World War II. Days later, the Garden hosted a Communist Party rally.