NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump held a rally in the South Bronx on Thursday to reach Black and Hispanic voters who could put him over the top in this fall’s election against President Joe Biden. Although Trump lost the Bronx by 68 points — and New York state by 23 points — in 2020, the rally served as a symbolic event to highlight the small but potentially significant shifts in the demographic makeup of his MAGA coalition.
Though far from one of his larger rallies, his speech drew one of the more diverse crowds of his political career as he spoke at length about his old hometown during a break in his ongoing criminal hush-money trial in Manhattan.
The South Bronx went hard for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
The Trump campaign has been trying to reach more Black and Latino voters, trying to get some of them to vote for the former president — or at least not to vote for Biden. (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
Immigration was a major theme at Trump’s rally on Thursday, with some voters saying they were frustrated by the high number of migrants entering New York City. (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
The rally in the South Bronx was a rare midweek campaign event for Trump, as he had to appear in court four days a week in Manhattan for his criminal trial. (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
During the meeting, Trump spoke at length about his business career in New York. (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
The crowd at Thursday’s rally was one of Trump’s most diverse of the campaign. (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
Trump told rally participants that he wanted to “take back our parks” and renovate New York City’s entire subway system — promising to “make it beautiful again.” (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
One of the speakers at the rally was Ruben Diaz Sr., a conservative Democratic former city councilman and former state senator, who said, “Donald Trump is welcome here in the Bronx.” (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
Trump’s trial in Manhattan is coming to an end and a verdict could come as early as next week. (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
Some Bronx residents cited the stimulus checks they received when Trump was president as the reason they’re taking another look. (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
Trump spoke about the situation in the Gaza Strip and said he believed some of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas will not come home: “Many of the hostages that you are waiting for, and that everyone is waiting for, are dead. And it is a terrible thing.” (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
Chants of “build the wall” and “send them back” broke out at several points as Trump discussed immigration. (Lucia Buricelli for NBC News)
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
