Speakers at a major New York rally for Donald Trump include some of his most prominent Jewish supporters as well as others who have drawn attention for their associations with antisemites.
Among them are Tucker Carlson, who recently hosted a Holocaust denier on his podcast; Stephen Miller, Trump’s Jewish former chief of staff who has shaped his restrictive immigration policies; and Sid Rosenberg, a New York talk radio host who has leaned into his Jewish identity since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Ahead of Sunday evening’s rally, Jewish Democrats condemned its setting, Madison Square Garden, accusing the Republican presidential nominee of choosing the venue because it housed a notorious pro-Nazi rally in 1939.
The multiple and conflicting Jewish arguments surrounding the event reflected the intensity with which both campaigns are focusing on the Jewish vote, just nine days ahead of the election.
A number of the speakers are among Trump’s most prominent Jewish supporters, including financiers Howard Lutnick and Steve Witkoff. Other speakers at the rally, taking place just nine days ahead of an election polls show to be neck and neck, have been among the most outspoken Republicans accusing Democrats and the party’s presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, of tolerating what they say is surging antisemitism on the left.
Among these are U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and the fourth-ranking Republican in the House, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who have spearheaded investigations into anti-Israel and antisemitic activity on college campuses since Oct. 7.
The campaign invited Shabbos Kestenbaum, a former Harvard University graduate student who spoke about being targeted at the Republican convention in July, to sit in the VIP section.
But others are notable for trading in antisemitic tropes or promoting antisemites on their influential platforms. Among these are two figures who have taken leads in stumping for Trump in recent weeks: Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, who since purchasing Twitter in 2022 has allowed the flourishing of white supremacist and antisemitic accounts; and Carlson, who even before praising the Holocaust denier on his podcast had drawn criticism from Jewish groups for promoting an antisemitic conspiracy theory about immigration.
Carlson, who had a prime speaking spot at the convention and whose advice Trump has sought on his campaign, is a prominent peddler of the Great Replacement Theory, as are Stefanik and Musk. All three have made baseless claims that Democrats are bringing in migrants to illegally vote and permanently marginalize Republicans. Jewish groups have said the theory, which in some iterations posits that Jews are paying people of color to migrate to the United States to replace whites, is antisemitic.
Harris is almost certainly going to win New York State, a Democratic stronghold. But staging a rally in opposition territory is a means of showing confidence so close to an election — Harris rallied last week in Texas, which is likely to vote for Trump. Trump is now a Florida resident, but New York is his hometown, where he became famous as a real estate developer and a reality TV actor, and where he launched his successful campaign for the 2016 presidential election. It is also likely to generate the kind of splashy media coverage that delights Trump.
Additionally, while Republicans do not entertain serious hopes of winning the state for Trump, there are Republicans in Congressional races who could use a boost. A handful of Congressional districts in the state could determine which party controls the House.
Three Jewish Democrats previewing the rally in a press conference on Sunday said the venue itself is suspect because it housed a notorious pro-Nazi rally in 1939. (It has also housed numerous mainstream political rallies and conventions since then.)
“There are plenty of other arenas in swing states,” said North Carolina Rep. Kathy Manning, whose state is one of seven that both parties are laser-focused on winning. “The largest arena between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta is right here in Greensboro, North Carolina, where I’m sitting today. He could be having his rally right here in Greensboro, but he’s chosen Madison Square Gardens, I believe, because it has that frightening history. He is sending a message to his base.”
Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn politician who backs Trump, ridiculed that take in a video he posted to social media, where he called it “desperation.”
“What the hell is wrong with these people?” Hikind said. “Madison Square Garden, half the place is going to be Jews there to support Donald Trump.”
Ahead of the 5 p.m. rally, some Jewish Trump supporters posted videos of themselves praying and singing Jewish songs outside the arena, where crowds began gathering early in the day.
The speakers on the call, organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said Trump’s authoritarian tendencies and his reported praise in the past for generals loyal to Adolf Hitler, made the comparison an apt one. They also lambasted Trump for holding the rally on the sixth anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history, the shooting attack on the Tree of Life synagogue complex in Pittsburgh committed by an extremist concerned about immigrants.
Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz said Trump’s presidency helped spur the alarming rise in antisemitism in the United States.
“That hatred has been allowed to feel comfortable, regardless of what side that hatred is on,” he said. “Donald Trump has allowed that hatred to feel comfortable, to feel that they can go out and express themselves and so yeah, the Jewish community should be vigilant.”
