Donald Trump is finally getting his Madison Square Garden moment.
With just over a week to go before election day, the former US president will take the stage at one of the country’s most well-known venues, hosting a rally in his home town of New York to deliver his campaign’s closing message against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
The opening of the rally was a hodgepodge of Trumpism, with an extended clip played from the 1970 film Patton, a painting of the American flag with Trump in front of it as God Bless America blared from the speakers, and a stand-up routine from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that was full of lewd jokes, often invoking racist stereotypes of Latinos, Jews and Black people.
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“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” said Hinchcliffe, whose joke was immediately flagged by Harris’ campaign, which is competing with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states.
Several critics ripped Hillary Clinton, the Democrat defeated by Trump eight years ago, for saying Trump on Sunday would be “reenacting” a pro-Nazi event at the Garden in February 1939. One speaker, radio host Sid Rosenberg, used a profanity to denounce the former US secretary of state.
“Hey guys, they’re now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers, who draped a sparkly “MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke.
“And you know what they’re claiming, guys? It’s very scary. They’re claiming we’re going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain’t that rich?”
Trump has denounced the four criminal indictments brought against him as politically motivated. He has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of “enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them.
The arena was full hours before Trump was scheduled to speak on Sunday (Monday AEDT). Outside the arena, the pavements were overflowing with Trump supporters in red “Make America Great Again” hats.
There was a heavy security presence. Streets were blocked off and access to Penn Station was restricted.
The rally is one of a series of detours Trump has made from battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California — best known for the famous music festival named after the town — and one in May on the Jersey Shore. This northern summer he campaigned in the South Bronx.
While some Democrats and TV pundits have questioned Trump’s decision to hold what they dismiss as vanity events, the rally guarantees Trump what he most craves: the spotlight, wall-to-wall coverage and a national audience.
To reach them, Trump has spent hours appearing 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 supporters through the drive-thru window. Video of the stop posted by his campaign has been viewed more than 40 million times on TikTok alone.
Trump will be joined at the rally by supporters including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has spent tens of millions of dollars to boost his campaign.
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