Trump returns to 'epicenter of it all' for Madison Square Garden rally

CNN
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Donald Trump opens the final full week of the presidential campaign with a rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, banking on his own sensationalism as he tries to fill the iconic venue and create a spectacle that will reach television and phone screens across all seven battlegrounds will states.

The former president is returning to his hometown of New York City – a deep blue turf where few Republicans are expected to win, but where signs of discontent and state and local Democratic leadership struggles could help push vulnerable Republican incumbents into House seats surrounding suburbs.

It is the latest in a series of Trump visits to blue states that have also included a rally in California's Coachella Valley this month, one on Long Island over the summer and a recent stop for an economic forum in Chicago.

At every stop, Trump uses dehumanizing language to blame crime and the growing number of migrants on his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I will save every city across America that has been invaded and conquered,” he said Thursday in Las Vegas.

The event at Madison Square Garden follows a precedent set by previous campaigns. The venue, including its previous locations, has an extensive political history. It has hosted presidents such as Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and hosted both Republican and Democratic national conventions – most recently the GOP convention in 2004. Famously, it was also the site of John F. Kennedy's birthday party in 1962, when Marilyn Monroe performed her iconic serenade for the President.

Still, the history of Madison Square Garden is not without controversy. Far more divisive events took place here, including the infamous “Pro-American Rally” of 1939, a Nazi rally organized by the German-American Confederation in the run-up to World War II and attended by thousands. Days later, a Communist Party rally filled the arena. In 1968, George Wallace, the one-time segregationist governor of Alabama, promoted a law-and-order message in a speech at the Garden days before the presidential election, where he won nearly 10 million votes and carried five states as a third-party candidate.

For Trump, Sunday's event means more than just a campaign stop. It is also an important moment for him personally. The former president has long expressed a desire to take the stage at the Midtown Manhattan landmark. His name will most likely appear on the same marquee that has so often welcomed guests such as Billy Joel, Elton John and other legendary entertainers.

New York remains a safe blue state, although Trump has said privately and publicly that he believes he can win it, an idea that was acknowledged by his campaign supporters as far from reality.

“We believe there is a chance to win New York for the first time in a long time, many, many decades. And we think there's a real opportunity if the migrants take over the city, frankly the entire state,” he said on Fox News Radio. Ronald Reagan was the last Republican presidential candidate to wear the Empire State in 1984.

It has also been more than two decades since a Republican won a statewide election in New York – most recently former Gov. George Pataki when he won a third term in 2002.

However, Republicans have expressed hope that the event could help bolster vulnerable New York GOP lawmakers vying for their House seats in November. Several of them joined Trump at a telerally on Saturday hosted by New York Rep. Elise Stefanik – the No. 4 Republican in the House of Representatives – to push for early voting. Some also appeared at Trump's September event at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

However, none of them are on the speaker list released by the Trump campaign for the Madison Square Garden rally.

Sunday's rally will also be one of Trump's largest fundraisers yet, according to multiple sources familiar with the logistics. Donors were offered a range of packages including VIP suites, tickets to an exclusive “pre-event” at the venue, backstage passes and photo opportunities.

“The Trump campaign is going to make a crazy amount of money from this event,” a source familiar with the guest list told CNN.

Dozens of Republican lawmakers, allies, donors and celebrities are expected to attend. The Trump campaign said speakers at the rally included the former president's vice president, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, tech tycoon Elon Musk, former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson, Stefanik and former New York City Mayor Rudy will be joined by Giuliani and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

A number of popular internet celebrities and rappers have endorsed the former president throughout the campaign, many of whom are likely to be in attendance on Sunday, a source close to Trump told CNN.

A source close to Trump said there are systems in place to prevent Trump critics from signing up for tickets without any intention of showing up, something some allies have expressed concern about.

Although Trump will not be in any of the seven states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – that both campaigns expect to decide the outcome of the Nov. 5 election, aides said former president that they expect Sunday's election rally to garner extensive media coverage.

“It’s New York City. It’s the largest media market in the world,” a campaign adviser told CNN. “It’s the epicenter of everything.”

CNN's Danya Gainor contributed to this report.