Election 2024: Trump gets his Madison Square Garden moment

NEW YORK (AP) – Donald Trump finally gets his Madison Square Garden moment.

Just over a week before Election Day, the former president will take the stage at one of the country's most iconic venues and host a rally in his hometown to deliver the final message of his campaign against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Madison Square Garden is the center of the universe,” said Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller, pointing to the eventful history of the venue, which, among other things, hosted the “Fight of the Century” in 1971.

The rally is one of a series of detours Trump has taken from the battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California – best known for the famous music festival named after the city – and one this summer on the coast of Jersey. He campaigned this summer the South Bronx.

While some Democrats and television pundits have questioned Trump's decision to hold events they dismiss as vanity events, the rally guarantees Trump what he craves most: the spotlight, widespread coverage and a national audience.

In addition to trying to energize his base, Trump's campaign is also trying to woo the few remaining undecided voters, many of whom don't get their news through traditional media.

To reach them, Trump has spent hours appearing on popular podcasts. And his campaign has helped create viral moments, such as his visit to a McDonald's restaurant last weekend, where he made french fries and served his fans through the drive-thru window. The video of the stop released by his campaign has been viewed more than 40 million times on TikTok alone.

“He won’t just be speaking to attendees at Madison Square Garden. “There will be people tuning in from battleground states across the country,” said former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican and ally of the former president, who said Trump had talked about holding an event at the site of his campaign from the start .

Harris has also traveled to states where there are no battlefields for major events intended to convey a national message. She appeared and will perform with music superstar Beyoncé in Houston on Friday to talk about reproductive rights her own closing argument Tuesday from the Ellipse in Washington, where Trump spoke before January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

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.

“The most famous arena in the world”

Trump often compares himself to the country's greatest entertainers. The former reality TV star has long spoken about wanting to hold a rally at the venue dubbed “The Most Famous Arena in the World,” and has brought up the idea in interviews and private conversations.

“New York is part of its DNA. Madison Square Garden is part of its DNA,” said New York State Republican Chairman Ed Cox.

While Trump continues to insist that the rally is part of his effort to win New York – a state that President Joe Biden won with more than 60% of the vote four years ago – he has made clear that it is also personal thing works.

“It's the New York, but it's also, you know, it's MSG, it's Madison Square Garden,” Trump said in a recent radio interview. “People like you and me, those words mean a lot. Madison Square Garden, right? Don't you think so? … It’s a very big stop.”

The venue also has a story in politics, Hosted events with Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1962, John F. Kennedy Jr. hosted a birthday party at the stadium, where Marilyn Monroe sang the famous song “Happy Birthday to You, Mr. President.”

But if there's one piece of Garden history that Trump might want to repeat, it's when Grover Cleveland accepted his party's nomination in 1892, three years after leaving the White House. He won the election and became the first and only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Home control could extend to the New York suburbs

Aside from the national spotlight and the thrill of performing on one of the world's most famous stages, Republicans in the state say the rally will also help reject candidates.

New York is home to some competitive congressional elections that could decide which party controls the House of Representatives next year.

Zeldin ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, but performed better than expected and increased turnout in battleground districts, helping Republicans gain a slim majority in the House. That underlines, he said, how important it is that the top of the ticket does as well as possible. He said the Garden event is certain to be on newscasts in areas with high-stakes races like suburban Long Island, where Trump held a crowded, raucous rally last month.

Trump will also use the stop as a key fundraising opportunity as he continues to lag Harris significantly in the money race.

A native returns to the city that created and condemned him

New York hasn't elected a Republican president in 40 years. But that hasn't stopped Trump from continuing to insist he can win.

“We believe there is an opportunity,” he said on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” earlier this week, citing frustration over the influx of migrants into the city and concerns about crime.

Trump routinely uses his hometown as a foil to audiences in other states, painting a bleak vision of the city that bears little resemblance to reality. He describes it as crime-ridden and overrun by violent immigrant gangs that have taken over Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue and occupied Times Square.

Trump has a complicated history with the place where he built his business empire, and it has made him a tabloid and reality TV star. His residents charged him last year with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He was found guilty in that case and also held liable in civil court for business fraud and sexual abuse.

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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Novi, Michigan, contributed to this report.