Thousands are descending on The Bronx for Donald Trump’s historic rally on Thursday night as he bids to do what most think is impossible: Flip New York Republican.
The former president’s MAGA faithful braved heavy rain to head to Crotona Park, hours before he was due to take the stage in the deep-blue district Joe Biden won with more than 60 percent of the vote in 2020.
Many waiting for the presumptive Republican nominee to take the stage believe he can do the unthinkable and win the state in 2024.
Trump, 77, is the first Republican to visit the the area for a campaign event in 40 years and is looking to woo black and Hispanic voters away from Biden.
In the event’s announcement, Trump’s campaign said the visit will highlight Biden’s ‘disastrous’ record on the economy and surge in violent crime.
The ex-president’s chances of winning New York are extremely slim for Trump and an even greater stretch in the Bronx.
But locals heading to the event are furious at Biden and the state of the economy and are happy to see the GOP leader visit.
New Yorkers line up in Crotona Park in the South Bronx ahead of Donald Trump’s rally on Thursday night
Mel Easy of the Bronx, wearing his MAGA hat, told DailyMail.com Trump can ‘absolutely’ win the state.
Tatiana Ibrahim from Carmel, New York, said: ‘Because Trump is honest, devoted, godly, honest and he cares about the American people.
‘Everything he’s doing is for we the people, not for himself…. Trump loves the people of America.’
Biden beat Trump in the Empire State by double-digits in 2020 with more than 60 percent of the vote to Trump’s less than 38 percent.
Trump won less than 10 percent of the Bronx in 2016. In 2020, he won just 16 percent of the borough against Biden.
Rappers Trump Latinos and Forgiato Blow perform ahead of the Trump rally
Forgiato Blow shows off his leg tattoo as he joins the crowd before the event on Thursday
A woman wearing a Trump cowboy hat a patriotic top in the South Bronx
No Republican presidential candidate has won New York state in the presidential election since President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Trump has been in New York for his criminal trial as he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over the hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Outside the courthouse, he has made several stops throughout the city including visiting a firehouse, construction site and a bodega.
Ahead of the rally in the Bronx, Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres who represents the districts slammed the ex-president visiting his neighborhood.
‘It’s obvious to all of us that his priority is not the people of the Bronx,’ Torres said on MSNBC. ‘His priority is a self-pardon and self-preservation.’
‘His presidency was a catastrophe for the Bronx, his mismanagement of COVID left a death toll of more than 7,000 in the Bronx which is greater than the combined death count of Pearl Harbor and 9/11.’
Torres said instead of holding a rally he should be ‘apologizing for the damage he’s done.’
The congressman said he’s confident the people of the Bronx are not going to ‘buy the snake oil he’s selling.’
On Thursday morning, the region was pummeled by thunderstorms. Progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reposted a video of the torrential downpour soaking the location of the Trump rally with the caption ‘God is good.’
While conditions are expected to improve later, the park could be damp and muddy for those attending.
MAGA fans take selfie with George Santos, the former Republican congressman expelled from Congress for lying over swathes of his resume
Santos smiles with one of Trump’s fans. He is still a favorite of the MAGA army despite a short career in Congress mired in Scandal
A New York member of the MAGA faithful wears a shirt with a version of Trump’s mugshot
Another man using Donald Trump’s mugshot as part of his attire prepares for the Bronx rally
NYPD sets up on the outskirts of the rally in the deep-blue Bronx which kicks off Thursday night
Donald Trump is set to hold a campaign event in the Bronx on Thursday. He is the first Republican presidential candidate to campaign in the borough since Reagan
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign on Thursday released a 30 second ad warning Trump poses a ‘dire threat to black America.’
The ad highlights Trump calling for the execution of the Central Park Five. The five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were wrongfully convicted for the brutal assault of a white woman in New York’s Central Park in 1989. Their convictions were vacated in 2002.
It began airing digitally ahead of Trump’s visit targeting Bronx and New York zip codes. The campaign also is airing the ad in battleground states.
One of the Central Park five is now a New York City Councilman. He blasted Trump on Thursday.
‘During that dark period, Donald Trump took out full-page ads in New York City newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty. He pointed his finger at us, calling for our execution without a shred of evidence,’ Yusef Salaam said in a statement.
The Biden campaign released a 30 second political ad on Thursday calling Trump a dire threat to Black America. The ad highlighted Trump calling for the death penalty for the Central Park Five. It began airing in New York ahead of Trump’s visit as well as battleground states
‘Unfortunately, this personal experience is not just a chapter of my life but a stark illustration of the kind of leader Donald Trump is—a man who has consistently disrespected and dehumanized our community,’ Salaam added while urging black and Latino communities not to sit out the election.
In the Bronx, more than 28 percent of the population identified as black and more than 56 identified as Hispanic in 2022.
Reagan is the last Republican presidential candidate to hold a campaign event in the South Bronx. He visited the borough when he ran against President Jimmy Carter in the summer of 1980.
He gave remarks in front of a vacant lot on Charlotte Street, the same place Carter had visited in 1977 and vowed to make improvements, but little had change since then.
Ronald Reagan during his visit to the South Bronx in 1980 giving remarks in front of a sign that said ‘decay.’ The Republican presidential candidate went to Charlotte Street, the exact spot where President Carter had visited years earlier. It was still lined with vacant lots and rubble
President Reagan was the last Republican presidential candidate to campaign in the Bronx. He was also the last Republican to win the state of New York.
Reagans visit was met with some protests. Demonstrators behind barricades across the street shouted ‘you ain’t going to do nothing’ and ‘go back to California.’
During his 1977 visit, Carter’s motorcade drove past blocks of burned-out buildings and vacant lots. Twice he got out of his motorcade to chat with residents and praised the spirit and hope of the people.
President Jimmy Carter in the South Bronx on October 5, 1977 as they toured one of the city’s most ravaged areas.
Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton both visited the borough as well. President George W Bush threw out the first pitch during the World Series only weeks after the attack on 9/11.
