Former President Donald Trump may be confined to a courtroom all day while his opponent campaigns for the upcoming presidential election, but he’s still holding bigger campaign rallies than President Joe Biden.
If Trump can’t get to the campaign trail, the campaign trail will come to Trump.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to alleged hush money payments made during the 2016 campaign.
But Trump is not one to just sit around. On Tuesday evening, after spending the second day in a downtown Manhattan courtroom for jury selection, Trump made a campaign stop at a bodega in Harlem, according to Fox News.
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Chants of “I love you, Trump,” and “We love Trump” filled the streets of Harlem as the crowd overflowed the sidewalks, waiting for a glimpse of the former president.
Chants of “WE LOVE TRUMP!” break out as Trump visits a bodega in Harlem.pic.twitter.com/fVwkLHUr9r
— GOP (@GOP) April 17, 2024
Trending:
As Trump exited his vehicle, the crowd broke into chants of “USA” and “four more years.”
Flippin genius.
President Trump leaves NY starchamber show-trial and stops at bodega in Harlem.
The crowd loves him.
(Credit @RSBNetwork) pic.twitter.com/jHJYPxWxpB
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) April 16, 2024
Another group of supporters broke into a slightly off-key rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Trump visits a Bodega in NY and people start singing “The Star Spangled Banner”! 🇺🇲❤️ This wouldn’t happen with any other candidate. pic.twitter.com/gc5xhhg05c
— Americat 🇺🇸 (@catmurphy209) April 17, 2024
It had all the excitement and thrill of a Trump rally right on the streets of Harlem.
Meanwhile, a photograph of Joe Biden’s “tini-tiny” Scranton, Pennsylvania, rally happening on the same day went viral as a stark comparison.
Turn out for @JoeBiden in his hometown of Scranton. Even if the seats fill up, which would only be from reporters, the gym is “tini-tiny”.😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/pyPW7QUiSF
— C-Reason🇺🇸 (@CreasonJana) April 17, 2024
The bodega Trump visited became known as the “Jose Alba bodega” after the July 2022 incident where Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg arrested and charged the bodega worker Jose Alba with murder for fatally stabbing an assailant who attacked him behind the counter. Bragg initially sent Alba to Riker’s island with bail set at $250,000. The charges were ultimately dropped after public outcry that Alba acted in self-defense, Fox News reported.
Remember the man who defended himself 2 years ago and Alvin Bragg arrested and charged him? Trump pays a visit to the same bodega and is treated as a hero.
Love us some Trump! Make NY safe again. pic.twitter.com/mi6Q4sFjRx
— SweetPeaBelle (@SweetPeaBell326) April 17, 2024
Inside the bodega, Trump was fascinated with the young son of the bodega owner, calling him a “movie star,” much to his delight. He then proceeded to talk to members of the Bodega Association, who expressed their gratitude for Trump taking the time to visit the store.
“We are really pleased with you to come in and to recognize the work that we the bodega owners [do]. We are always on the lines, in the pandemic work, we were always on the front lines. We need to have respect, and we need more police safety,” one member told Trump.
“We went from being heroes to being abandoned by our local elected officials,” another member said.
Trump vows to ‘straighten New York out’ while visiting bodega where clerk Jose Alba was hit with murder charge for stabbing an ex-con in self-defense
NewYorkPost pic.twitter.com/qlpLKN7OTa
— TheRealCherokeeOwl (@RealCherokeeOwl) April 17, 2024
“This is a very exciting time for me,” the indefatigable former president, who could barely be heard over the cheering crowd, said to the press as he left the bodega.
“The Bodega’s, the association invited me. I respect them, and they respect me. They want law and order — they have a lot of crime, tremendous crime, where their stores are being robbed.”
Trump said that having to be in the courtroom “makes me campaign locally, and that’s OK.”
“This trial, that I have now, that’s a Biden trial. They want to keep me off the campaign trail. But based on what I’m doing, I think there’s more press here than there is if I went out to some nice location,” he said.
Trump went on to say that he was going to give New York “a very good shot” for the presidency, adding that “a lot of things have changed.”
🚨Trump leaves black supporters in Harlem with inspiring message after making suprise visit to bodega pic.twitter.com/C6AtJyjFwg
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 16, 2024
“We have to straighten out New York, and that includes crime,” he said.
Trump went on to talk about the migrant situation in New York, telling reporters, “They’re coming from jails and prisons, mental institutions and insane asylums, and you have massive numbers of terrorists coming into our country, all because of Biden.”
“Number one, you have to stop crime, and we’re going to let the police do their job. They have to be given back their authority. They have to be able to do their job,” he said.
“And we’re going to come into New York. We’re making a big play for New York — other cities, too. But this city, I love this city.” Trump said.
Will Trump win in November?
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Judging from the size and enthusiasm of the crowd, there are many in the city who love him, too.
Like him or hate him, one thing is for sure: You cannot ignore Trump.
The news is where he is, much as the mainstream media would prefer otherwise.
By being forced to stay in New York and having the media report every move, Trump is once again reaping the benefit of countless hours of free publicity, impromptu free rallies, and a chance to make a strong bid for New York in a way that may have seemed impossible before.
It couldn’t have worked out better if he had planned it himself.
