As counterprotesters picketed outside, loyalists of Donald Trump gathered inside Madison Square Garden for an hours-long rally on Sunday that saw one speaker after another praise the former president and denigrate his opponents, often with racist or dehumanizing terms.
Trump used the iconic venue to deliver his closing argument against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris as the clock ticked down toward the Nov. 5 general election. While Trump has insisted New York state is in play this year, recent polls have him trailing Harris by nearly 20 points, and the Empire State has not gone for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
