Trump rally in New York, supporters: 'No more taxes, no more immigrants'

Among Trump's people there is everything. At least in this New York appointment. There are the folksy right-wingers, with handlebar moustaches, the stars and stripes flag on their shoulders and even the cowboy hat; there are the old men in their plaid flannel shirts. But there are also distinguished-looking men and women, as if attending a church service, whole families with children. And many young people, perhaps they are the majority: whites, but also blacks, Hispanics, groups of Asians, Jews with yarmulkes and curls, Muslims.

Trump's ability to communicate embraces everyone, engages and convinces, not without contradictions. James Kaplan, a university student, Jewish from Brooklyn is accompanied by his brothers and father. "I'm voting for Trump because he won't discount Muslims, he's going to come down hard on them like he did when he banned many of them from entering our country," he says with an anger, which, looking at the Middle East, chills.

A few dozen metres away, Steve Darwish thinks very differently. He is in his early twenties and has Middle Eastern features. His family has been in the US, in New Jersey, for three generations, but the ties to Syria and religion are still strong. 'Trump,' he explains, 'will stop Israel, he said he will and he will. Does that seem impossible? Don't worry, he knows how to do it, he will have the strength and determination to do it, he is like that, he is our saviour'.

Two ladies of a certain age, white, blond and bejewelled, show impatience with people asking questions. Here if you don't have a Trump T-shirt or a Maga hat they look at you with suspicion. "It's not that hard to see that Trump is the only chance for the US to save itself," they say. "Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have made a mess, they have destroyed our country. There are no more principles, life has become a gamble, family no longer exists. It will be up to Trump and his deputy JD Vance to put things back together, that's why we will vote for them,' they conclude as they unfurl a pamphlet from a right-wing anti-abortion association.

A man of about sixty approaches, says his name is John Smith and that he is from Alabama: 'Make America waits again,' he says with a half-smile, adapting, for all those waiting to enter, Trump's slogan about the greatness of America. He then gives his own eccentric rationale for supporting Trump: 'I don't want to be in the schemes and I'm going to vote for Trump because he's one of us, one who will do away with all the rules: he'll sweep away the Federal Reserve, the CIA, the strong powers, we can't take it anymore, America,' he repeats, 'is us not the things of Washington.

Meanwhile inside Madison Square Garden the show has begun. No one is talking anymore, there is no room for doubts and questions, the focus is on the stage. At centre stage - instead of a Knicks basketball game or a Billy Joel concert - all the main protagonists of the Democratic campaign take turns, as well as comedians and VIPs, between insults to opponents and racist jokes against Puerto Ricans. Deputy nominee JD Vance speaks: 'Here,' he says, 'King Elvis Presley performed, and now it's Donald Trump's turn. The man who when he ruled brought peace and secure borders to the United States'. Former New York mayor, the controversial, Rudy Giuliani, and even F. Kennedy Jr, whom Trump's aides would have liked to keep off the stage, speak. Trump's sons Eric and Don Jr. speak. Some joke about the accusations of fascism made against Trump and also about Trump's own admiration for Adolf Hitler.

Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson calls Kamala Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, "a Samoan, Malaysian, former California prosecutor with a low IQ". Trump's childhood friend David Rem goes so far as to say that Harris is like 'the Antichrist and the devil'.

The crowd cheers Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, and Trump's main backer with more than $100 million, But the high point of the evening comes with wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, now in his seventies: "Go vote," he shouts menacingly, flexing his muscles, as if he were still in the ring.

Then it is his turn, Donald Trump 'the saviour', as the Republican supporters call him. He takes the stage presented by his wife Melania. And he does not disappoint. He also attacks and insults Kamala Harris, invents anecdotes, puts together an incredible series of falsehoods that the whole of Madison takes at face value: Harris becomes responsible for 'the invasion of immigrants, jail leftovers from every country in the world, from Venezuela to the Congo'; the Biden administration, against all evidence, is accused of having 'destroyed' thousands and thousands of industrial jobs; and forgetting the Covid pandemic, he goes back to riding 'the inflation woes caused by the Democrats'.

But it is with promises rather than accusations that Trump's propaganda works best. 'I am happy to return to the city I love. I'm here with a message of hope, to bring the American dream home,' he says, proclaiming 5 November as 'America's liberation day' with his victory.

And again and again. "I will cut taxes, there will be no taxes on tips or overtime. We will achieve energy independence. And,' he emphasises after a pause for effect, 'I will end thegreen new deal so the price of your energy bills will halve, in just one year.

Dreams and promises that warm the whole of Madison Square Garden and even the crowd left outside the gates. Messages that resonate with voters and could deliver Trump the White House.