ReutersDonald Trump held a campaign rally in New York’s South Bronx to try to win over Black and Latino voters ahead of November’s presidential election.
Among those he shared the stage with Thursday was Florida Republican Byron Donalds, a black congressman and, rumored, a potential vice presidential candidate.
It was Mr. Trump’s first rally in New York in about eight years, as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee tries to make inroads with ethnic minority voters.
A recent New York Times and Sienna poll suggests that Democrat Joe Biden is losing the support of this crucial voting bloc in key states.
The Bronx is a majority Hispanic and black neighborhood and a Democratic stronghold.
Mr. Trump has spent a lot of time speaking directly to New York audiences about his imprint on the city — the place where he built much of his fortune and fame.
“We have inspired the whole world,” he said at the start of his roughly 90-minute speech, but he now sees the city falling into “decline,” describing it as a place riddled with crime and poor infrastructure. in ruins.
He blamed Mr. Biden and record levels of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border for the economic impact on minority voters.
“The biggest negative impact (of illegal immigration) is on our black population and our Hispanic population, losing their jobs, losing their housing, losing everything they can lose,” Mr. Trump told the crowd.
Before Mr. Trump arrived, there was concern about how he would be received in the Bronx.
“I wish it would go away,” one man told the New York Times before the rally.
“No one I know supports him.”
Police presence was heavy at Crotona Park as counter-protesters gathered outside the rally.
They were eventually expelled by the New York police, according to CBS, the BBC’s American media partner.
But people who spoke to the BBC said they appreciated Mr. Trump’s willingness to step out of his comfort zone.
“It’s a bold move here, for him to come to the Bronx,” Geoffrey Davis said. “What he did here is very respectful.”
Mr. Davis said he supported Mr. Trump because “when he was president, there were no wars. No Ukraine-Russia. No Israel-Gaza.”
Thamar Corniel, a Trump supporter born in the Dominican Republic, said: “He is America first.”
Mr. Trump is increasingly trying to make inroads with minority communities in the hope that they can make a difference in key states.
Mr Biden and Mr Trump are locked in a tight race ahead of the November 5 election.
In April, during a break in his criminal trial in New York, Mr. Trump stopped at a convenience store in Harlem.
He also spoke at a gala for the Black Conservative Federation, an organization that works to expand Republican support among black voters, and hired a black media director, Janiyah Thomas.
But there were missteps.
In February, he was criticized for saying his four criminal charges boosted his appeal to black Americans because they viewed him as a victim of discrimination.
A recent New York Times and Sienna Poll reported that Mr. Trump is beating Mr. Biden in five battleground states, in part because of black and Latino voters moving away from the Democratic Party.
President Biden recognized this – this bloc played a crucial role in his victory in 2020 – and spent millions of dollars on targeted advertising campaigns.
Young voters and non-white voters appear to be losing confidence in Mr. Biden and the Democrats as they grow increasingly frustrated with issues such as inflation and the White House’s support for Israel.
During President Biden’s recent commencement speech at Morehouse University, a historically black college, several graduates turned their backs on the president during the ceremony to protest his handling of the war in Gaza.
