Uniondale, New York – Former President Donald Trump stood before a packed arena on Long Island, New York, and predicted victory in November's election in the Democratic-heavy state.
“After a long time, we are going to win New York. This is the first time in many years that Republicans can honestly say that. And we are going to get it done,” Trump vowed.
“We have to do it. If we do it, the national election is over,” Trump added, speaking to a crowd his campaign said was about 16,000 at an arena in Nassau County, a Republican stronghold outside New York City.
Trump made a similar promise four years ago but lost his home state of New York to President Biden by more than 23 percentage points, and polls strongly suggest he has little chance of winning the state in 2024 when he faces Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump headlines a rally at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on September 18, 2024. (Fox News – Julia Bonavita)
It's the first time in 40 years that a Republican candidate has won. New York In the presidential election.
You have to go all the way back to President Ronald Reagan, who won the state as part of his 1984 landslide reelection.
Trump promised New Yorkers that if he took back the White House, he'd give them “lower taxes, less crime and less stress.”
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The former president also vowed that during Trump's second term, “the site of the World Trade Center Ground Zero will be officially designated a national monument to be protected and maintained by the United States Government.”
Wednesday's rally was Trump's second major campaign event in New York state this year, after drawing a large crowd in New York City's Bronx in May.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in the South Bronx borough of New York City on Thursday, May 23. (AP/Yuki Iwamura)
As Biden's poll numbers began to plummet following his disastrous debate defeat against Trump in late June, there were rumors that New York could become a hotbed of contention, but those rumors were fleeting and quickly fizzled out when Harris replaced Biden as the top 2024 Democratic candidate two months ago.
So why? With less than 50 days left, Election Day And time is becoming a precious commodity — did Trump hold a campaign rally just outside New York City?
“New York is clearly the largest media center in the country,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh told Fox News on the eve of the rally.
Murtagh said: [Trump] “When you deliver your message there, it goes directly to homes in every market in every battleground state. The most precious commodity we have is President Trump's time, and this event is putting it to good use.”
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While it is highly unlikely that Trump will win New York in his race for the White House, the caucuses could give Republicans an edge in lower-ranking districts as they seek to retain their House majority in November's election.
New York has several Republican-held House seats seen as at risk this year, including that of Rep. Anthony D'Esposito of Long Island. Many of them attended the rally and spoke ahead of Trump, and the former president also cheered on House Republicans and congressional candidates as he addressed the crowd.
“New York may not be a battleground state, but Long Island clearly is a battleground state, and if Trump wins on election night, he's going to need a majority in the House of Representatives, and that House majority would be the entire state of New York,” D'Esposito said in an interview with Fox News' Brian Irenas.
Trump's rally was his first since the second assassination attempt on the former president last weekend, and the 78-year-old Republican candidate claimed the incident had “strengthened my resolve.”
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“Death did not break my will,” he emphasized. “It has given me a much greater and stronger mission. It has only strengthened my resolve to use my time on Earth to Make America Great Again for all Americans and to put America First.”
Trump then said, “God has just saved my life. It must be God, thank you. Not once, but twice.”
Fox News' Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.
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