Former President Donald Trump on Thursday stunned Democrats after he stormed into one of their strongest fortresses and got a massive reception.
Donald Trump held a packed Thursday rally in the Bronx, with many Democrat voters turning up to support the former president. Trump drew a large crowd at the rally, leaving many to compare the event to the monumental August 5, 1980 rally held by Ronald Reagan.
Regan, the then-GOP nominee running against Democrat incumbent President Jimmy, shocked the world when he won in New York a few months after the rally.
The last Republican candidate for President to campaign in the South Bronx is Ronald Reagan. I was there. He won. #Trump2024 pic.twitter.com/Othjk42rDZ
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) May 23, 2024
Following Trump’s rally on Thursday, many experts—including James Pinkerton—now believe the former president can repeat Reagan’s feat and achieve what no Republican nominee has done for 44 years: win New York. Pinkerton, a former junior staffer on the Reagan campaign, noted that the media coverage was negative for Reagan.
A Republican presidential candidate hasn't won New York since Ronald Reagan in 1984…
Rightful President Trump may just beat that record!
OVER 30,000 PEOPLE have reportedly shown up to Trump's rally in the Bronx that AOC dismissed, saying, "The Bronx is blue!" pic.twitter.com/oXQUNIqplQ
— Bo Loudon (@BoLoudon) May 23, 2024
During the rally, Trump spoke of the declining state of the country’s economy, weak border and high crime rate. The former president noted that those issues are some of the Bronx’s biggest problems.
“We have filthy encampments of drugged-out homeless people living in our places that we’ve spent so much time with children where they used to play. We have lunatics killing innocent bystanders by pushing them onto the railroad tracks for sport,” Trump said. Our subways are squalid and unsafe, the ceiling tiles are falling down, and they look worse than in a third-world country. The medians of our highways are crumbling. Our sidewalks are littered with garbage, bottles and trash, but worst of all, the discarded needles from people that so desperately are in need of help. And we have mobs of migrants fighting our police officers and giving America the middle finger. We are not going to let this continue.”
The former president, born and raised in Queens, NY, vowed that his government would not let the Bronx slide into further decline.
“We are not going to abandon our hope and our pride. This city has given us so much and now it is time that we are going to give it back. Together, we are going to make New York City great again, and simultaneously, We are going to make America great again.”
🚨TRUMP: ‘We’re going to turn New York City around— and we’re going to turn it around very, very QUICKLY…
We’re going to make New York bigger, better, and more beautiful than EVER before— and that includes right here in the Bronx.’ pic.twitter.com/sNURm9LP5q
— News Nomad 🗞 (@The_Nomad_News) May 23, 2024
Several attendees at the rally said they were lifelong Democrats but would support Trump over former President Donald Trump.
“It was better under Donald Trump,” one woman said. “I can tell you that the Bronx has been through many changes, and everything was getting back on track and then, you know, everything is like falling apart again.”
"As soon as I get back into the Oval Office, I am going to pick up the phone and I'm going to call your mayor and your governor, and I'm going to say, 'This is President Trump and I want to come back and HELP!'" pic.twitter.com/tzceVlMaL6
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) May 23, 2024
“Senior citizens cannot walk on the street. Our children are being killed. Groceries, when you go to the grocery store, you can’t even buy anything anymore,” one man who said he was a lifelong Democrat told reporters at the rally. All my life, I’ve been a Democrat, but Democrats have used us, abused us, and they think that they own us.”
Bronx resident: Life was better under Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/e1ICb9YDkQ
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 23, 2024
Another attendee blasted the Democrat rally for abandoning Bronx citizens and focusing more on Democrats.
“They’re giving all the money to the immigrants,” another said. “I’m not against that. The problem is they’re cutting our stuff.”
People all over America are beginning to think for themselves, independently, outside of a system that’s trapped and scolded them for opening their mouths and eyes. The forgotten men and women of this country and blue-collar Democrats who have been slighted for decades, are all… pic.twitter.com/t96pBODz68
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) May 24, 2024