Of all the events that warm up the engines for the celebration of Halloween, none as massive as the rally that took place this Sunday donald trump at Madison Square Garden in New York in the company of a myriad of characters, some of whom could have served as extras for Michael Jackson in the video for Suspense, another classic of these days. Even though Republicans have nothing at stake in New Yorka traditionally Democratic state, the candidate for re-election hung the no-ticket sign this Sunday: the queues of people to attend the event overflowed the perimeter of the coliseum five hours before the doors opened, while his campaign team recalled that The almost 20,000 capacity tickets were sold out online “in hours.” The mass bath was assured, a way in its own way to take revenge on the city that In May, he became the first convicted felon to run for president.
It was not the Republican’s first campaign event in New York, the city of his loves: In May he held a massive rally in the Bronx. But Madison is the place that consecrates artists, from music to wrestling, and Trump couldn’t resist shining, especially when the polls They continue to predict, point up or down, a technical tie with his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris. Appearing in Madison a week before the elections was equivalent to monopolizing all the spotlights in the most media-rich city in the United States. “We want to close [la campaña] with a nice flourish,” he warned a week ago.
The long list of speakers, almost identical to that of the Republican convention in Milwaukeeforced the start of the rally to be brought forward to two in the afternoon, three hours before the scheduled start of the candidate’s speech, which lasted into the night. The list did not disappoint: along with prominent Republican representatives in Congress, such as its spokesperson, Mike Johnson, or the ultra Elise StefanikHulk Hogan, a well-known — and thunderous — wrestling wrestler, or Michael ‘Harry-O’ Harris, a rap producer sentenced to 33 years for drug trafficking who was pardoned by Trump in 2021, in his last grace as president, took the stand. “If it hadn’t been for Trump, I wouldn’t be here before you today,” the opening act thanked. “[Trump] “He has been accused more times than Al Capone,” complained another, a phrase worthy of at least being printed on t-shirts. David Rem, a childhood friend of the candidate, frantically brandished a crucifix from the lectern as if he were performing an exorcism, while calling Harris “the devil” and “the antichrist.” One step further, the accused Rudy Giuliani placed Harris “on the side of the terrorists” in the Gaza war.
Several speakers engaged in a litany of insults and racist comments, which has caused, in addition to a political storm, a fire on social networks. “I don’t know if you know, but right now there is literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” said Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian who asserted that Puerto Ricans, whose vote will be decisive in states like Pennsylvania, have too many children (then he came out against Democratic criticism by assuring that “these people don’t make any sense.” of humor.” The defamations of other speakers also targeted African Americans, Palestinians and Jews.
The audience, timid at first, warmed up as both the insults and the celebrity of the opening acts increased: with Mike Johnson, Vivek Ramaswamy, former primary candidate —who winked at African-American voters, whose votes Harris is also contesting—, and the Democrat and then independent Robert F. Kennedy, who parked his candidacy to support Trumpthe rally took off until Carlson’s paroxysm. Histrión, the MAGA propagandist attacked the New York authorities for having “tried to destroy” Trump judicially, called the Democrats liars and mocked the ethnic origins of Kamala Harris with a couple of thanks very applauded. The temperature in Madison rose completely when Elon Musk appeared, who introduced himself, pointing to his black cap, as a “gothic MAGA”, and, after a brief intervention, gave way to Melania Trump, whose speech was not planned and who was the his first in the campaign. Both Melania and, minutes later, her husband, testified to their “love” for New York and promised to return the city to red territory (the Republican color and the MAGA tide).
After the opening acts had been explaining the ideas behind their ideology (the alleged invasion of immigrants, crime, inflation or the indissoluble link with Israel), and when it seemed that everything had already been said—especially the disqualifications of the Democrats—, the leader’s epiphany on stage corroborated the offensive for more than an hour in an endless speech. “I am going to stop the invasion of criminals entering this country, our country is going to be richer, stronger and safer than ever before, this election is about choosing between another four years of incompetence or four of success. I ask you to dream big again. “Kamala, you have destroyed our country, we are not going to put up with you any longer, go away now, you are fired!” he cried, drawing clamor from the audience, with the same phrase he used on his reality show The apprenticethe springboard of his political career, and which he also dedicated to his rival when she replaced Biden in the race.
“I am here today with a message of hope for all Americans: With your vote in this election, I will end inflation. “I will stop the invasion of criminals from coming to our country and bring back the American dream,” he said. “If I win, we will quickly build the largest economy in the history of the world. Which is what we had in our last term. We will quickly defeat inflation and make America affordable again,” he said, while announcing a tax break “for those caring for a parent or loved one, it’s about time this was recognized.” He also reiterated his intention to protect the US economy by imposing large tariffs on China.
Trump referred to his rival, “a lunatic and radical Marxist who destroyed San Francisco,” calling her incompetent on numerous occasions, even joking about her IQ: “I have never needed a teleprompter,” he boasted, the device that projects the speech to the speaker. He also spoke about the war in Ukraine (“it would never have happened with me”), the withdrawal from Afghanistan and a long list of “disasters” of the Democratic Administration. With the Democrats, he stressed, World War III will begin and young Americans will have to ask their parents “what that little green piece of paper is,” the call to military service that will send them “to fight in a faraway country.” He described his former collaborators who compared him to Hitler “stupid” and promised to prevent women’s sports from allowing trans people, one of the cultural wars that Republicans fuel the most.
Trump appeared in New York a day after the mayor, the also accused Eric Adamswill cover him up by ensuring that he should not be presented as a “fascist”, as Kamala Harris clearly did on Wednesday in a meeting with voters. Adams, a Democrat, thus thanked Trump for his legal problems on Saturday, assuring that both were the subject of political persecution. The reciprocity of support—especially that of the councilor for the Republican candidate—has caused astonishment in the Democratic campaign.
The Madison rally remembered Trump’s coronation at the Milwaukee Republican convention: the decibels, the lights and the soundtrack, although less spectacle in the stalls and stands. It is difficult for it to go down in the annals – except for its duration, which caused many attendees to start leaving before finishing – because the Madison, in its different locations, collects anniversaries: it was the place where Marilyn Monroe sang happy birthday to the President John F. Kennedy in 1962; where President Roosevelt gave one of the most powerful speeches of his mandate in 1936, or where three years later more than 20,000 people, many of them wearing swastikas, showed their support for Adolf Hitler. The same surname to which this week he was associated.
