In the deep-blue New York state, residents again Donald Trump after marketing campaign rally | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Bronx native Danny Rivera by no means thought he would see the day former president Donald Trump visited his hometown.

“When I heard he was going to be here I thought it was a scam…I thought it was fake,” he advised Daily Express US. “I’m here to support my president.”

Mr Rivera was amongst 1000’s of Donald Trump loyalists who gathered to see the previous president at a marketing campaign rally at a park within the South Bronx on Thursday.

The rally marked Mr Trump’s first marketing campaign occasion in New York state since 2016. And it’s little surprise why his go to caught locals like Mr Rivera without warning.

The Bronx is among the most Democratic counties within the nation. President Joe Biden gained greater than 80 % of the borough in 2020.

Mr Trump had solely 16 % of the vote. In 2016, he misplaced the Bronx by greater than 300,000 votes.

Mr Rivera applauded the previous president for making the trek to the borough.

“This is new to a lot of us [locals] because no one would step foot in here and that’s sad. We need [political leaders] to come here and see the situation we’re living in,” he mentioned.

“He [Trump] is saying maybe I got a shot, maybe I’ll let them know that I’m here for you.”

As one among New York City’s most various and impoverished boroughs, Mr Trump hoped to sway minority voters forward of the November election.

Addressing the group, Mr Trump mentioned “the biggest negative impact” of the inflow of migrants in New York was “against our Black population and our Hispanic population who are losing their jobs, losing their housing, losing everything they can lose. They’re the ones that are affected most by what’s happening.”

Bronx native Alberto Rodriguez mentioned he thinks Mr Trump is gaining extra assist amongst the borough’s largely Black and Hispanic inhabitants.

“All my friends grew up here…your parents were Democrats and so you voted for them [too],” he mentioned.

“He [Trump] has a track record and he was president already. If he does become president I want him to be a little more unifying.

“But I don’t want him to cut out the rhetoric or his tough talk. I understand the tough talk, that’s the way my father spoke to me.”

As the rally obtained underway, lots of of anti-Trump protesters, led by the Bronx Democratic Party, gathered close by.

Among them was Bronx native Laverne Scott, who mentioned she was outraged by the previous president’s resolution to carry a rally within the borough.

“Why would he come to the Bronx? He might have a handful of supporters…most of them are not struggling like me,” she mentioned.

“There are too many of us out here against him. He doesn’t care about the Bronx.”

Fellow protester, Chauncey Starling, echoed Ms Scott’s considerations.

“He [Trump] is not welcome here. I’m surprised that he would come here looking for support in the Bronx,” he mentioned.

Mr Starling conceded that he did assume some locals had been turning to Mr Trump, as a result of “poverty and inflation”.

Mr Trump has been in New York for over a month throughout his prison hush cash trial. Closing arguments are anticipated when court docket resumes on Tuesday.

The jury will then determine whether or not he’ll change into the primary former president in U.S historical past to be criminally convicted.