When Trump announced recently that he would be holding a rally in the cavernous Madison Square Garden on October 27 it had many scratching their heads. Why would he hold a rally in such a large arena in a state he won’t even be competitive in? They should not have been surprised at all. Back in April, Trump teased the event, saying “We’re going to be doing a rally at Madison Square Garden, we believe,” Trump said at the time. “We think we’re signing Madison Square Garden to do. We’re going to have a big rally honoring the police, and honoring the firemen, and everybody. Honoring a lot of people, including teachers by the way. We’ll be honoring the people that make New York work,” Trump said.
Well it didn’t long for people to make the historical connection with an infamous Nazi rally held in 1939 at Madison Square Garden. It was also draped in patriotism and other symbols of nationalism that seem on the surface innocuous enough but underneath are sinister. And Trump’s rally promises to be eerily similar the earlier one. We probably won’t see any swastikas but we will hear the same America First/White Nationalism rhetoric we heard then.
State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal called it out, which gave Rupert Murdoch’s outlets the vapors, as well as the impotentNew York Times. Apparently, it’s impolite to call White Nationalism rallies with a presidential candidate what they are in this country.
I’d urge everyone to take the time to watch the archival footage of the rally from 1939. It’s seven minutes long. In many instances, if you close your eyes you can hear Trump.
Source: Politico
Former President Donald Trump is set to hold a rally at Madison Square Garden later this month, and the event is already sparking fierce backlash from New York Democrats.
Now Manhattan state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal’s passionate plea to cancel the event has sparked another debate.
“Let’s be clear,” Hoylman-Sigal wrote on X this morning. “Allowing Trump to hold an event at MSG is equivalent to the infamous Nazis rally at Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939.”
Hoylman-Sigal, who demanded the famed arena cancel the event, refuted criticism from Republicans that his comparison went too far.
While Trump may not necessarily be the same as Hitler, the idea of his “white supremacist” supporters descending on MSG mirrors the Nazi Party rally that filled up the same space 85 years ago, he said.
“I was talking about the venue and many of his followers who are white supremacists and have demonstrated hatred and vitriol toward minority groups, including Jews, people of color and the LGBTQ community,” he said.
“I’m not calling anyone a Nazi,” he added. “I’m pointing out a historic similarity.”
This is a disastrous decision by Madison Square Garden that will endanger the public safety of New Yorkers and has the potential to incite widespread violence.
For the good of NYC and its residents, I demand @TheGarden keep our city safe by cancelling the Trump rally 3/3
— Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal (@bradhoylman) October 9, 2024
Presidential historian Michael Beschloss with the not-so-veiled reference to an earlier rally.
