The May 23 event marks the first time that a GOP presidential candidate has campaigned there in decades; Democrats call the visit unwelcome.
Former President Donald Trumpās rally, set for this evening in the South Bronx, is causing a stir.
Allies applaud him for wading into such hostile Democrat āblueā territory, in an apparent effort to court the areaās large ethnic populationāthe first such effort from a GOP presidential contender in decades.
Gavin Wax, president of the New York Young Republican Club, praised President Trump for making āa great move, expanding the Republican Party.ā
About 77 percent of Bronx Countians are black or Hispanic, U.S. Census data show; then-candidate Joe Biden won the area by nearly 68 percentage points over President Trump in the 2020 election.
āHeās taking his message right into the belly of the beast,ā Mr. Wax told The Epoch Times.
But President Trumpās critics resent him for having the audacity to show up. The Bronx Democratic Party, in a social-media post, urged people to attend a counter-demonstration, saying: āTrump isnāt welcome in the Bronx.ā
His speech is set for 6 p.m. ET in Crotona Park; several thousand people are expected to attend, along with counter-protesters.
The former presidentās rally comes amid a pause in his New York criminal trial. It follows opinion polls showing that support for his Democrat opponent, President Joe Biden, is slipping among blacks and Hispanics. Polling also indicates the incumbentās large lead in the Empire State is eroding.
President Biden now leads President Trump in New York by about 9 percent, according to a new Siena College poll. Thatās less than half the 23 percent margin that separated the two candidates in their 2020 face-off.
It was unknown whether President Biden was planning to make any campaign stops soon in New York. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, President Biden has taken a number of steps aimed at boosting support among blacks; he recently gave the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically black institution, and has met with black leaders at the White House.
Still, analysts doubt President Trump can make up sufficient ground to win the state and turn it Republican āred.ā
No Republican presidential candidate has scored a victory in New York since 1984, when President Ronald Reagan won re-election. That was four years after then-candidate Ronald Reagan campaigned in the Bronx and won the first of his two presidential terms.
Former GOP candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain āwouldnāt have even driven through the South Bronx,ā Mr. Meister told The Epoch Times.
He pointed to President Reaganās past visit to the Bronx and subsequent victory, and quipped: āI think we could have a āDonald-Reaganā outcome this year.ā
Mr. Meister credits President Trumpās āunconventional approach to retail politicsā for attracting support from previously unlikely segments of the population.
āWe have a presidential candidate that is actually speaking to the American people, not at them,ā Mr. Meister said.
āTrump is and has always been a fraud,ā Mr. Torres continued. āThe South Bronxāthe most Democratic area in the nationāwill not buy the snake oil that he is selling.ā
The Trump campaign, in announcing the 45th presidentās Bronx campaign stop, said President Trump intends to highlight his economic policies versus those of President Biden.
āThe Empire State, a place near to President Trumpās heart, has been decimated by Biden. President Trump will ease the financial pressures placed on households and re-establish law and order in New York!ā President Trumpās campaign said in a statement.
Nationwide opinion polls show President Trump and President Biden appear to be locked in a statistical dead heat as the Nov. 5 general election approaches, according to RealClearPolitics.
In a social media post in anticipation of the New York campaign stop, President Trump wrote he was āheading for New York for the Big Rally in the South Bronx. Itās been 50 years since such a thing as this has taken place.ā
āWe are going to Make New York Great Again!!!ā he wrote in a variation of his āMake America Great Againā campaign slogan. āFar Lower Taxes, Safe, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Good Schools, and everything else that goes towards the American Dream!ā
Katabella Roberts, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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