Diehard MAGA fans wait in line at Madison Square Garden before sunrise ahead of Trump’s big rally
Diehard MAGA fans were seen gathering outside just before sunrise ahead of Donald Trump’s big rally at Madison Square Garden.
The sold out event will see roughly 20,000 MAGA fans come out just nine days before what could be the closest presidential election in history as Trump and Kamala Harris are virtually tied in every poll.
Devoted Republicans were seen sporting red ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball hats as they lined up on the corner of 33rd and 6th Avenue of America early Sunday morning in predominantly liberal New York City.
An array of Trump merch, including shirts, jackets, large billboards, and a trailer filled with flags, donning the Republican nominees’ face and name, surrounded the venue as the streets lit up in red, white and blue.
A heavy police presence also gathered as groups of NYPD officers were seen outside MSG accompanied by large police vehicles and multiple patrol cars.
One image showed a massive line of supporters outside of the arena 12 hours before the event.
Dozens of Trump supporters lined the streets of Midtown Manhattan ahead of Trump’s rally
Devoted Republicans are seen lining up outside early Sunday morning ahead of Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden
Trump supporters pose for a picture in their MAGA red baseball hats outside of the arena
While New York is a solidly blue state, the Big Apple is still Trump’s original hometown and where the billionaire started his business empire several decades ago.
Although many are excited to see the 45th president at the iconic arena, Democrats have slammed his venue selection as they try to paint him as a ‘dictator’ in the days before the election.
Just this week, Hillary Clinton made an extraordinary claim that Trump chose to host the massive rally at Madison Square Garden to ‘reenact’ a Nazi event that took place there 85 years ago.
The former Secretary of State said Trump is seeking to ‘reenact’ the Nazi rally that took place in the Big Apple venue just over six months before the start of World War II.
‘You know, one other thing that you’ll see next week is Trump actually reenacting the Madison Square Garden rally in 1939,’ Clinton said in an interview with CNN on Thursday evening.
She went on: ‘Neo-Nazis, fascists, in America were lining up to essentially pledge their support for the kind of government that they were seeing in Germany. So I don’t think we can ignore it.’
A man is seen wheeling around a cart filled to the brim with Trump merchandise outside of MSG
Red, white and blue lights illuminated the streets outside of MSG as NYPD officers and vehicles arrived
While New York is a solidly blue state, the Big Apple is still Trump’s original hometown and where the billionaire started his business empire several decades ago. (pictured: A MAGA supporter waiting in line)
A heavy police presence also took over outside the event a several NYPD officers lined the streets
People are seen outside the arena dressed in patriotic colors, along with an inflatable Trump figure
It comes on the heels of Harris calling Trump a ‘fascist’ after his former Chief of Staff John Kelly accused him of being a fan of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who will be attending the MSG rally, told DailyMail.com Clinton’s comments are ‘disgusting’ and ‘pathetic.’
‘It just shows you why people rejected Hillary Clinton [in 2016],’ he went on. ‘I mean that hateful, negative and divisive rhetoric is a thing of the past.
‘People are fed up with it, and it needs to end. And it should be rejected by everybody, you know, Republicans, Democrats alike.’
Usually in the last run-up to the election, the main candidates spend all their time in critical battleground states, of which New York is not one.
Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are the seven swing states essential to nab for a victory next month.
But Trump has courted New Yorkers’ votes this election cycle despite the state voting for Democrats every presidential election cycle since 1988.
This is not the first time Trump has visited NYC during his election as he held several events in the state, including at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island last month where he told his supporters: ‘We are going to win New York.’
‘New York is the media capital of the world,’ Trump campaign senior adviser Tim Murtaugh told DailyMail.com when describing the former president’s selection of his latest rally venue.
He added: ‘There’s gonna be more television cameras at this rally, probably than any rally to date, and it will be beamed directly into all of the battleground states.’
More Trump fans line up outside of the arena, donning the iconic MAGA hats
NYPD officers prepare for the large rally early Sunday morning
Diehard MAGA fans are seen camping out just outside the stadium early Sunday
Madison Square Garden is a historic site that still holds massive concerts and events today.
Both Democratic and Republican National Conventions have been held at The Garden since the 1800s. MSG was the site of the 1976, 1980 and 1992 Democratic National Conventions and the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Adding to the lore of the arena, it was also the site of the famous birthday bash for John F. Kennedy in 1962 when Marilyn Monroe took stage to sing Happy Birthday to the then-president.
A stacked lineup of guests and speakers are expected to grace the stage or appear around the MSG arena on Sunday.
This includes members of Republican congressional leadership like Scalise, House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik.
The massive rally comes just days after the presidential nominee joined comedian Joe Rogan on his podcast.
The 57-year-old comedian revealed that he finally had Trump on his show after the Republican was shot earlier this year.
During the wide-ranging interview, Rogan referenced Trump’s interview with fellow comedian Theo Von in August of this year.
Trump asked: ‘Is that why you called me to do this’, to which Rogan responded: ‘No. Once they shot you I was like, “He’s gotta come in here.”‘
Showing off the wound he received when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on him in July of this year, Trump said: ‘It zicked right there.’
Tons of merchandise was displayed as people waiting in line for the event 12 hours ahead of time
A trailer is seen covered in Trump flags just outside the arena
Rogan replies: ‘It healed up pretty f***ing good man’, to which Trump said it wasn’t like UFC fighters that Rogan also provides color commentary for.
Trump told Rogan that the attempt on his life and the scarring had made him a ‘tougher guy’.
During their three hour conversation, which amassed 300,000 in the first 30 minutes, Trump told Rogan he’s serious about scrapping federal income tax if he wins the race to the White House.
Rogan asked the Republican nominee: ‘Did you just float out the idea of getting rid of income taxes and replacing it with tariffs? Were we serious about that?’
He responded: ‘Why not, our country was the richest in the 1880s and the 1890s, a President who was assassinated named [William] McKinley he was the tariff king. He spoke beautifully of tariffs, his language was really beautiful.
‘We will not allow the enemy to come in and take our jobs, take our factories, take our workers and take our families unless they pay a big price. The big price is tariffs.’
