Trump veers away from swing states for hometown rally at Madison Square Garden

With just over a week to go before the US presidential election, the former president will take the stage at one of the country’s most famous venues, hosting a hometown rally to deliver his campaign’s closing message against Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris.

“Madison Square Garden is the centre of the universe,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller, noting the venue’s storied history hosting events including the 1971 “Fight of the century”.

The rally is one of a series of detours Mr Trump has made from battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California – best known for the famous music festival named after the town – and one over the summer on the Jersey Shore. This summer he campaigned in the South Bronx.

While some Democrats and TV pundits have questioned Mr Trump’s decision to hold what they dismiss as vanity events, the rally guarantees the former president what he most craves: the spotlight, wall-to-wall coverage and a national audience.

Along with trying to energise his base, Mr Trump’s campaign has been attempting to court the few remaining undecided voters, many of whom do not get their news from traditional outlets.

To reach them, Mr Trump has spent hours appearing on popular podcasts. His campaign has worked to create viral moments like his visit last weekend to a McDonald’s restaurant, where he made fries and served supporters through the drive-thru window.

Video of the stop posted by his campaign has been viewed more than 40 million times on TikTok alone.

Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican and ally of the former president, said Mr Trump has been talking about holding an event at the venue since the start of his campaign.

“He’s not just going to be speaking to the attendees inside Madison Square Garden,” Mr Zeldin said. “There will be people tuning in from battleground states all across the country.”

Ms Harris has also travelled to non-battleground states for major events intended to drive a national message. She appeared in Houston on Friday with music superstar Beyonce to speak about reproductive rights, and will deliver her own closing argument on Tuesday from the Ellipse in Washington – where Mr Trump spoke ahead of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

Mr Trump will be joined at the rally by supporters including Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who has spent tens of millions to boost his campaign.

New York has not voted for a Republican for president in 40 years. But that has not stopped Mr Trump from continuing to insist he believes he can win.

“We think there’s a chance,” he said on The Brian Kilmeade Show earlier this week, pointing to frustrations over an influx of migrants to the city and concerns over crime.

Mr Trump routinely uses his home town as a foil before audiences in other states, painting a dark vision of the city that bears little resemblance to reality. He has cast it as crime-ridden and overrun by violent, immigrant gangs who have taken over Fifth and Madison avenues and occupied Times Square.

The former president has a complicated history with the place where he built his business empire and that made him a tabloid and reality TV star.

Its residents indicted him last year on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He was found guilty in that case, and also found liable in civil court for business fraud and sexual abuse.

The opening of the rally saw an extended clip played from the 1970 film Patton, a painting of the American flag with Trump in front of it as God Bless America blared from the speakers, and a stand-up routine from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that was full of lewd jokes, often invoking racist stereotypes of Latinos, Jews and black people.

Several critics criticised Hillary Clinton, the Democrat defeated by Mr Trump eight years ago, for saying Mr Trump on Sunday would be “re-enacting” a pro-Nazi event at the Garden in February 1939. One speaker, radio host Sid Rosenberg, used a profanity to denounce the former secretary of state.

“Hey guys, they’re now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Mr Trump’s lawyers, who draped a sparkly “MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke.

“And you know what they’re claiming, guys? It’s very scary. They’re claiming we’re going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain’t that rich?”

Several of Mr Trump’s allies used crude and extreme rhetoric towards Ms Harris and other Trump critics before the former president was to take the stage.

Mr Trump’s childhood friend David Rem referred to the Democratic presidential candidate, who is vying to become the first woman to be elected president, as “the Antichrist” and “the devil”.

Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Ms Harris “and her pimp handlers will destroy our country” before saying, of Democrats, “we need to slaughter these other people”.

Mr Trump has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of “enemies from within”, naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them.

The arena was full hours before Mr Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the pavements were overflowing with Trump supporters in red “Make America Great Again” hats and a heavy security presence.