Donald Trump promised to save “deep blue” New York City and make it great again during a rally in the Bronx, a democratic stronghold.
Speaking to what his team claimed were “25,000 supporters” in his first major campaign event in the state since 2016, he said he will “make New York bigger, better and greater than ever before”.
The event, held in Crotana Park, was permitted to hold up to 3,500 people but thousands more gathered en masse to listen to the former President speak.
Whilst Trump’s team estimated the number to be upwards of 20,000, law enforcement sources told The New York Post that between 8,000 and 10,000 attended.
Taking to the stage, the 77-year-old said: “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. We are going to make New York bigger, better and greater than ever before.”
He said that “Joe Biden is not getting the job done for the Bronx” and “not getting the job done for New York.”
The Bronx is a mainly Hispanic and black neighbourhood, and Trump tried to speak to their interests ahead of November’s Presidential election.
A recent survey from the New York Times and Sienna poll suggested that Biden is losing support among that important voting bloc.
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“The biggest negative impact [of illegal immigration] is against our black population and our Hispanic population, who are losing their jobs, losing their housing, losing everything they can lose,” Trump told the crowd.
He said that down to Biden, as well as the record levels of migrants crossing into the country, for having that minority voters are suffering economically.
Compared to 2020, Trump’s support amongst Black voters has skyrocketed, with the number expected to rise to 20 percent.
He promised that if successful in his election bid, he would team up with Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul and Democrat Mayor Eric Adams to fix the city and the state.
Trump promised to refurbish the subway “so that it no longer looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since 1932”, and to improve security and affordability. He also said he would bring better schools to the Big Apple, clean up the parks and remove the homeless and mentally ill from the streets.
Announcing the event, Trump’s campaign said: “New Yorkers have suffered greatly thanks to Biden’s failed policies.”
They added that the 77-year-old was “unafraid to bring his message to every borough of New York, to every corner of this great country, because he believes his message is a winning one”.