Former President Donald Trump’s planned Bronx rally for Thursday evening has sparked excitement and anticipation in the traditionally blue borough of New York City.
The Post took to the streets Tuesday to gather reactions to the 45th president’s first major election event in his home state in eight years, and to find out how the Republican message is being carried in traditionally Republican districts. We confirmed whether we could obtain such traction. 100 years.
Joe Randazzo, owner of Randazzo Seafood on Arthur Avenue, said President Biden has brought about high inflation and a wave of violent crime.
“A group of several gang members from Venezuela got together and started shooting in the street at 9:30 in the morning,” Randazzo, 70, told the Post.
The seafood vendor is a staunch supporter of Trump, adding that he plans to attend the Crotona Park rally on Thursday, schedule permitting.
“Everyone was working, prices were low, the economy was great,” Randazzo said of the Trump administration, adding of the possibility of voting for Biden, “It’s not a deathbed.”
“I really hope he wins,” Randazzo added of Trump, urging people to “vote for him!”
Artist and entrepreneur Shelley Corso was kicked out of social gatherings after neighbors in her left-leaning Westchester suburb called her a “racist” after she went public with her support in 2016. He shut him out and said he was “under fire because of Mr. Trump.”
“I lost my friends and everything, you know? He’s a bigot. He’s got a big mouth. He can mess up wet dreams, okay?” Corso told the Post. This guy is honestly just shocking.
“But I liked his policies. And I still like his policies. And I don’t like the direction this country is going. So I definitely vote Republican. I’ve always been a Republican. I voted for Trump and will continue to vote for Trump.”
“It’s always Trump,” the MAGA enthusiast added.
Corso said she was hopeful that Trump could become the first Republican to win New York since President Ronald Reagan in 1984, and many of her closest friends are secret supporters of Trump. She added that she is a person who doesn’t want to endure the same kind of backlash that she did.
“So many people will be speaking on the show.” [that they] Like Joe Biden, they take me behind closed doors and they’re like,[I’m] I’m voting for Trump too, but I can’t say anything. ‘And I’m like, ‘Girl, your secret is safe with me,”’ she explained.
Corso said it was “possible” he would attend Thursday’s rally, but added that his support would remain unwavering even if he couldn’t meet his “favorite president” in person.
For twins John and James, retired Westchester city employees, the Trump rally in the Bronx is something they look forward to, and they both plan to attend.
“I think people are waking up. I really think people are waking up. They’re seeing Biden lie about everything,” James said.
“No, tell me everything. [Democratic] “The whole party is lying about everything,” John interjected.
Like Randazzo, the twins are nostalgic about the Trump economy but also unhappy with the direction the country is heading under Biden.
“Everything is sky high. Prices and everything are sky high,” James said. “It’s so sad, I can hear everyone complaining.”
For John, social change in America is just as worrying as its economic woes. His 95-year-old mother, the daughter of immigrants, no longer approves of the Democratic Party she once knew, he said.
“She’s a good woman. She loves God. She goes to church on Sundays,” he said. “Democrats don’t support that kind of thing.
“You can tell they’re backwards and don’t care about America at all.”
Christopher Bryan, a disabled South Bronx resident, was intrigued by the idea of attending a Trump rally in his backyard.
“Wow, that’s interesting, it’s not far from where I live,” Brian, 61, said when asked about the incident.
“I’m going to look online to find out what this rally is all about, what he’s promising, and why he says he’s qualified.”
Brian, an institute employee, said he was unable to choose a candidate due to the tough job market and was considering not voting at all.
President Trump has spent much of the past month holed up in a Manhattan courtroom, where prosecutors claim he criminally suppressed evidence that he paid “hush money” to two women before the 2016 election. ing.
Because Trump, 77, is unable to hold a traditional campaign rally, his team has been using small, ad-hoc events to demonstrate the support he believes he has from ordinary New Yorkers.
The Bronx rally will be another opportunity for President Trump to engage with voters who have not traditionally voted Republican, including Black, Hispanic and young voters, campaign representative Daniel Alvarez said in a statement Tuesday in the Post. told the paper.
But not all locals are happy about the Trump rally in their neighborhood.
“I didn’t like him before and I don’t like him now,” Belmont native Robert Calderon said. “He’s a fraud.”
“He’s only doing this to get himself out of prison,” Calderon, 63, added that he plans to write a letter to Trump’s former rival Nikki Haley in 2024. Ta.
“Trump is a spoiled brat who lost the election,” Calderon continued. “You’d be an idiot to vote for him.”
A local Biden supporter, who requested anonymity, said he would “never” consider President Trump.
“All I’m saying is about the Central Park Five,” the source said. “That’s all you need to know. He’s a horrible person. I don’t care about his policies. I will never vote for him.”
Meanwhile, Mecca Goan, 50, a Belmont resident and Bronx native, was elated at the prospect of Trump coming to her borough.
“Yes, I will vote for him,” said Goan, who is black and has voted twice for Barack Obama and Trump, adding that he plans to attend the rally with his family.
“I don’t agree with Biden,” a home health worker told the Post. “You were worried about people. [from] Out of town, people in New York City are struggling here. It is different. ”
Antoinette Coppola, 58, owner of Marie’s Coffee and Gifts, said the crime forced customers to stay home and hurt her business on Arthur Avenue.
She said she is trying to attend Thursday’s rally but may not be able to because of her obligations to the store.
“I like the way he does things,” said Coppola, who moved to the Bronx from Naples, Italy, 30 years ago. “He’s a tough guy who does the right thing.”
Scott Sandick, a 56-year-old Army veteran and nurse, told the Post: “My wife and daughter have hatred.” [Trump] But I don’t care. ”
He plans to attend the rally and said: He will close the borders but bring everything back to America. Let’s make America beautiful again. ”
Attendance is limited to 3,500 people, but Sandik enthusiastically said, “It’s going to be sold out, it’s going to be packed.”
Stephen Serkan, an ardent Trump supporter, said his dissatisfaction with Biden’s immigration policies has left him with no choice.
“The border issue is a huge failure,” he said, adding that the current president is “cognitively incompetent and has dementia.”
