Trump supporters in New York are optimistic that the former president can take the highly liberal state on November 5.
Donald Trump will hold a rally at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday night in a risky attempt to win over Big Apple voters.
But supporters who lined up hours before his arrival don’t believe Trump winning in 2024 is impossible.
‘I think it will be closer than ever. If he doesn’t take it, he’ll be close,” Brooklyn resident Melissa Vitelli, 37, told DailyMail.com as she waited to enter The Garden.
The rally will feature a variety of speakers including Elon Musk, UFC CEO Dana White, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., conservative media personality Tucker Carlson and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
‘I think (the elections) will be closer than ever. If (Trump) doesn’t accept it, it will be close,” Brooklyn resident Melissa Vitelli, 37, told DailyMail.com as she waited to enter Sunday’s rally.
New Yorkers who support Trump predict he has a chance to take over the liberal state that has voted blue in every presidential election since 1988.
Some have questioned the site selection with just over a week until Election Day, but pro-MAGA New Yorkers are convinced Trump could pull it off even though the state voted Democratic in the presidential election each year. cycle since 1988.
“I think in 2016 people were saying there was no way Donald Trump would ever win the United States, that it would never happen.” “New York is, in many ways, a cultural mirror of what’s going on,” Michael Rydelek, 27, told DailyMail.com.
“And as crazy as the win was in 2016, I think we’re seeing the same thing in 2024,” the Rockland County native speculated. ‘There are many people in New York City who are aware that something needs to change and are willing to follow through with that change. New York City is a big part of that equation.
“People ask, ‘Why is Trump in Madison Square Garden?’ Well, he’s making a play for New York,” Rydelek added.
Another New Yorker said she believes Trump has a chance at another term after hearing people talk openly about voting for the former president when she went early voting Saturday.
‘There are many people in New York City who are aware that something needs to change and are willing to follow through with that change. New York City is a big part of that equation,” Michael Rydelek, 27, told DailyMail.com. “And as crazy as the win was in 2016, I think we’re looking at the same thing in 2024.”
Thousands of people lined up outside Madison Square Garden on Sunday to enter the arena for Donald Trump’s rally, just nine days before the 2024 election.
Gladys Picket, 80, of Westchester, said she left her house at 7:30 a.m. to get to The Garden to see Trump speak just nine days before the 2024 election.
“My area is very liberal and the people around me are,” said the Puerto Rican-American. ‘Yesterday, when I went to vote, I was surprised to see the behavior of the people waiting in line. And it was surprising to see people openly talking about voting for Trump.”
Vitelli said he’s even seen a shift in his Brooklyn neighborhood even though a New York Times/Siena College poll released Saturday shows Brooklyn going 60 percent for Harris and 33 percent for Trump.
Gladys Picket, 80, of Westchester, said she heard people talk at early voting Saturday about voting for Donald Trump even in her highly liberal neighborhood.
‘I live in a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood, Borough Park; They have Trump flags up. They are relatively known for voting Democratic. And so it has changed,” Vitelli said.
“It was actually very nice to see,” he continued. “And they understand that, you know, the corruption runs deep.”
“There are definitely more changes,” Vitelli said of Brooklyn’s political leanings from 2016 to 2020 and then from 2020 to this year’s election.
“I think the media had a lot to do with this,” he added. ‘The more negative they are towards him, the more people wake up. Okay, he’s being a target. And as citizens we feel that if he could have been attacked, so could we.”
Vitelli already voted for Trump on Saturday when early voting began in New York.