The setting is deep blue New York.
In a major blow to Democrats, former President Trump hosted a campaign rally in the Bronx on Thursday as he aims to reverse Empire State Red this November, but it is unlikely that he will leave the White House in 2021. This situation would have been unfathomable.
The Trump campaign announced Friday night that Thursday’s rally would be held at Crotona Park, a 127-acre public park just a few blocks from the district lines of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, starting at 6 p.m. The New York Post reports that the campaign has permission to accommodate 3,500 people in the space.
The move followed a record Trump rally that drew up to 100,000 supporters to the Democratic stronghold of New Jersey last week.
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President Trump (left) gives a speech and Congressman Richie John Torres (right) says Bronx residents will not be fooled by Trump. (Ben Hastie/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)
This will be Trump’s first rally in the state since 2016, when he held one in Buffalo in the northern part of the state. In the 2020 election, Biden won 76% of the vote in the city, beating Trump. Statewide, Biden received 60.87% of the vote.
In announcing the rally, the Trump campaign repeatedly criticized President Biden’s record over the past three and a half years on crime and inflation.
“As a direct result of Mr. Biden and the Democratic Party’s pro-criminal policies, violent crime is spiking and taking a toll across New York City and the state,” the campaign said in a statement. “Homicide cases in New York City are up 23.1% and felony assaults are up 35.4% from 2019. These increases are incomprehensible and devastating.”
The campaign highlighted Trump’s attachment to the state he once called home before moving permanently to his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2019. Trump is being forced to go to court again in the “hush money” case, and the defamation suit with E. Jean Carroll.
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![Trump rally sign that says New Jersey "trump country"](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/05/1200/675/trump-rally-NJ.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Signs from the Trump rally in Wildwood declare the historically blue state of New Jersey “Trump Country.” It is estimated that nearly 100,000 people gathered at the rally. (Fox News Digital Image Direct)
“The Empire State, close to President Trump’s heart, was destroyed by Biden,” the statement continues. “President Trump will ease the economic pressure on families and restore law and order to New York! He will tackle illegality head-on, end the endless flow of illegal immigrants across our southern border, and reduce the flow of illegal immigrants. By reversing it, we can make America great again.” Mitigating the negative effects of inflation by restoring people’s wealth. ”
The announcement of the rally received mixed reactions.
Democratic Rep. Richie John Torres, who represents New York’s 15th Congressional District, where the rally is being held, condemned the former president in a statement to FOX News Digital.
“There is no greater enemy for the South Bronx than Donald Trump, who is on a mission to dismantle the social safety net that Bronx families depend on for survival,” Torres said. “Trump was and is a con man. The South Bronx, the most Democratic area in America, is not buying the snake oil he is selling.
![Former President Trump speaks at a campaign event in New Jersey.](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/05/1200/675/Trump.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
President Trump speaks at a campaign event at Wildwood Beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, on May 11, 2024. (Hannah Baier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
However, many business owners in the district did not know the rally would be held when they were contacted by Fox News Digital this morning.
Liz Adrew, a manager at Chocobar Cortez restaurant in the Bronx, said she would “probably” vote for Trump, although she didn’t realize it either.
Reggie O, owner of Aduanipa African & Caribbean Grill, did not say who he would vote for, but said he supported President Trump’s policies while he was president. He added that he thought it was very likely that he would. He added that he may be turned over at some point in the future, that his eatery has just opened, and that he has not been charged with any crime.
Inflation is putting many businesses under financial strain, especially after weathering the economic storm of pandemic-era lockdowns. The Trump campaign said his family is also suffering.
![](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/04/1200/675/AP24107845589259.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Former President Donald Trump visits and speaks with bodega owner Maad Ahmed (center) in New York on April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
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“New Yorkers are hurting hard because of Mr. Biden’s failed policies,” the statement said. “Prices in the Empire State have increased 17.5% since Mr. Biden took office, and New York households are suffering from high inflation on everyday goods. It continues.” It says.
President Trump telegraphed that he would be campaigning in the Big Apple during a visit to the Sanaa convenience store in upper Manhattan last month. In July 2022, former clerk Jose Alba was attacked by an ex-convict in the same area, and then stabbed him to death in self-defense.
“We’re going to go into New York. We’re going to make a big play for New York,” Trump told reporters outside. “I love this city. It’s gotten worse over the last three or four years. We’re going to rebuild New York.”