Former President Donald Trump attracted a significant crowd during a rally in New York City this week following similar success at a rally in nearby New Jersey earlier this month. The rally underscores Trump’s pledge to be competitive in New York and other traditionally blue states and to win New Jersey outright.
The former president held the rally in the Bronx, which traditionally votes heavily for Democrats. The neighborhood is heavily Black and Latino, which could indicate a growth of support for the former president. Recent national polls have shown a significant rise in support for Trump among both communities.
The former president has also moved closer in New York in a recent poll, which has voted heavily for Democrats in the recent past. The most recent Siena College poll showed President Joe Biden leading in the Empire State by 9%. Biden won the state by more than 23% in 2020.
The Trump campaign claimed that up to 25,000 people came to the rally in Cratona Park. The campaign originally predicted that 3,500 people may attend.
25k people, mostly New Yorkers, many from the Bronx, came out yesterday to support President Trump.
The Governor of New York… the same woman who said black kids don’t know what the word computer means, called these New Yorkers “CLOWNS.”
Governor Hochul, I hope you’re better… pic.twitter.com/80g1HavgEs
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) May 24, 2024
“I’m here tonight to declare we are going to turn New York City around, and we are going to turn it around very, very quickly,” said Trump. “We are going to make New York bigger, better and greater than ever before.”
The former president also said that New York was a “city in decline.” He made similar comments following court dates in the city earlier this year.
“If a New Yorker can’t save this city, no one can,” he said. “Who said we’re not going to win New York?”
Trump held a rally earlier in May in New Jersey that his campaign said attracted up to 100,000 people. During the event, Trump said that he would win New Jersey, a state that a Republican presidential candidate has not won in more than 30 years.
However, Republicans have had some success in the Garden State over the last generation, including a near-victory in the governor’s race in 2023.
