UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The sales pitch began on the way to Nassau Coliseum, where men were hawking “Make America Great Again” hats with a picture of former President Donald Trump’s face projected onto a giant digital billboard above the arena.
As I approached the arena on Wednesday, I queued with supporters amid a maze of lawn chairs and trash left by people who had been in line for hours. People met and chatted with acquaintances. Oversized Trump flags fluttered in the breeze above people selling Trump merchandise for those who hadn’t brought their own. To my left was a large sign warning about a “mind virus” called the “Fake News Media.”
“We’re going to save Democrat-run states,” Trump told a lively audience that night, “starting with saving the great state of New York.”
Trump is unlikely to win New York, a state that has gone to Democrats in every election since Ronald Reagan. In 2020, Joe Biden beat Trump locally by 23 percentage points. But even if Trump doesn’t fulfill his dream of winning New York, his rally on Long Island showed me he can still mobilize a crowd. And why that should be a concern.
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The polls say one thing about enthusiasm for Trump. But I saw something else.
The stadium was packed with red hats, supporters chatting with friends in their seats or waiting in line for hot dogs and soft pretzels, waiting for Trump to speak at his second rally since the second assassination attempt, on the same day he was due to be sentenced by a Manhattan judge in his hush money case.
The crowd filled the 16,000-seat stadium to nearly capacity.
If you watch the news, you might think the Trump rallies are dying down. The polls might be reassuring: ABC News’ “538” reports that Vice President Kamala Harris is likely to win the election.
Harris is also leading Trump in fundraising, raising $47 million in the 24 hours after the presidential debate.
The problem is, we’ve seen all this before. In 2016, people underestimated Trump’s chances of winning. Polls predicted former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would win. She won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote.
History may well repeat itself this November.
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Many people I know believe Harris will win the 2024 election. I’m cautiously optimistic, but I’m not sure people realize how close this race will ultimately be. MAGA seems to be on the rise again after the assassination attempt on Trump.
I spoke with NYU students Tatyana Agarwal, 19, and Maximilian Stebelski, 20, who had been waiting more than two hours to get into the arena. They were wearing neon pink and blue “Make America Great Again” hats, respectively.
“No matter what party he belongs to, he may be a Republican, he may be a former president, he may not be liked by a lot of people, but at the end of the day, he’s a human being just like everyone else,” Steberski said when asked about the second assassination attempt.
“This should be a place for people to just come and socialize and unite in support of a particular candidate,” Agarwal added. “It shouldn’t be a place about violence.”
Americans live in two realities. There are those who believe that Trump, a convicted felon, suspected sexual abuser, raging narcissist and clearly mentally unstable, is the man to save the country. An equal number believe that Trump is a danger to democracy and should not return to the White House. And yet the Electoral College could mean that Trump wins again.
I may not believe what Trump is selling, but many people do, and it’s important to remember that come November.
Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Pequeno on X. Previously on Twitter: @sara__pequeno