Donald Trump is getting ready to take the stage at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night along with a number of well-known people within the MAGA movement.
Some of the speakers include vice presidential nominee and Ohio Senator JD Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, former New York Mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump Jr, billionaire Elon Musk, and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Doors are set to open at 12pm ET and the program is expected to start at 5pm ET.
Trump’s Manhattan rally comes as Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced a swing state blitz in the last few days before Election Day. They will crisscross the country to visit all seven battleground states, with Harris heading to Philadelphia on Sunday before both of them move on to Wisconsin and Michigan on Monday.
A fired-up Michelle Obama ripped into Trump on Saturday as “a convicted felon” facing “obvious mental decline” and a “predator found liable for sexual abuse” while campaigning for Harris in Michigan.
The former First Lady stumped in Kalamazoo with a speech in which she told crowds she had a “genuine” fear for “our country.”
Key Points
- People begin to line up outside of Madison Square Garden ahead of Trump rally
- Here’s the speaker list for Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally
- Gracie Abrams and other music stars to join Harris-Walz in final swing state blitz before Election Day
- A growing number of Americans are concerned with Trump’s age, but still not as many who worried about Biden
Sea of red MAGA hats outside Madison Square Garden ahead of Trump rally
14:01
Alex Woodward
It’s hard to estimate the crowd size roughly two hours before the doors open at Madison Square Garden, but a wide line is packed from the entrance on Seventh Avenue and filling half of the street so far on 33rd Street, across from the Penn Station entrance.
The street is fully pedestrian today, with NYPD barricades on either side, under midtown landmarks like Sbarro and Target.
There’s a sea of red MAGA hats and a few flags waving above the crowd.
We’re supposed to be inside at noon.
Harris and Walz to campaign across battleground states this week
14:00
Darlene Superville, Chris Megerian
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will crisscross the country to visit all seven battleground states in the coming days, part of a final blitz before the end of the presidential campaign.
The Democratic presidential nominee will spend Sunday in Philadelphia, attending church services in the morning and visiting a barbershop. Harris also plans to stop at a Puerto Rican restaurant and a youth basketball facility.
Election Day is Nov. 5.
On Monday, Walz, who is Minnesota’s governor and Harris’ running mate, will campaign in Manitowoc and Waukesha in Wisconsin before heading to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a joint rally with Harris. The singer Maggie Rogers is scheduled to perform.
People begin to line up outside of Madison Square Garden ahead of Trump rally
13:46
Ariana Baio and Gustaf Kilander
The Independent’s Ariana Baio and Alex Woodward are outside Madison Square Garden ahead of Trump’s rally later on Sunday.
Vendors outside the arena have switched their regular wares for MAGA products.
Two people were seen impersonating Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – a dictator that Trump has often complimented.
Revealed: Farage-inspired plot to persuade Trump to veto Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal
13:30
David Maddox, Andrew Feinberg
A Nigel Farage-inspired bid to persuade Donald Trump to veto Keir Starmer’s controversial Chagos Islands deal can be revealed today.
The Independent has seen legal advice on Starmer’s controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius sent to Mr Trump that was requested after the Reform UK leader raised the issue directly with the former president’s team.
The advice was drawn up by legal experts who worked alongside Mr Farage in the Brexit campaign.
Mr Farage says he was not directly involved in the legal advice but his links with Trump are believed to have played a vital part in the initiative.
The aim of Farage and his allies is to persuade Trump to block the deal if he becomes president.
A growing number of Americans are concerned with Trump’s age, but still not as many who worried about Biden
13:00
Alex Lang
An increasing number of Americans say Donald Trump is too old to be president — but not as many as when President Joe Biden faced similar concerns about his age over the summer.
A new poll from YouGov found that 44 percent said Trump, at age 78, is too old to lead the executive branch. That figure is up from 35 percent who said the same in a similar February survey.
Along the same lines, the number of people who said he’s not too old dropped from 53 percent in February to 46 percent in October.
Those figures are compared to President Biden, 81, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential campaign and endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. In a similar poll in February, 63 percent of respondents said Biden was too old to be president. That figure jumped to 70 percent in July.
Gracie Abrams and other music stars to join Harris-Walz in final swing state blitz before Election Day
12:30
Andrew Feinberg
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are closing out October with a burst of travel that will see both candidates make appearances in all seven battleground states ahead of the November 5 presidential election.
The vice president’s travel streak includes a major speech in Washington, DC, one week before Election Day, at the same site where Donald Trump rallied the mob that broke into the Capitol on January 6.
Harris and her running-mate are set to barnstorm through the contested states for a series of rallies focused on getting out the vote and “harnessing the energy of these events to mobilize voters to go to the polls,” according to the Harris-Walz campaign.
Here’s the speaker list for Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally
12:00
Mike Bedigan
The Trump campaign has sent out the speaker list for the former president’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden.
Doors are at noon, with the former president due to speak at around 5pm ET.
- Sen. JD Vance
- Speaker Mike Johnson
- Rep. Elise Stefanik
- Rep. Byron Donalds
- Tulsi Gabbard
- Rudy Giuliani
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Lara Trump
- Eric Trump
- Donald Trump Jr.
- Elon Musk
- Dan Scavino
- Stephen Miller
- Dana White
- Tucker Carlson
- Brooke Rollins
- Steve Witkoff
- Howard Lutnick
- Grant Cardone
- Sergio Gor
- Michael Harris Jr.
- Tiffany Justice
- Lee Greenwood
- Christopher Macchio
- Mary Millben
- Sid Rosenberg
- Kill Tony
- Scott Lobaido
- David Rem
A historic gender gap is emerging ahead of the election and will likely decide if Trump or Harris wins
11:40
Chris Stevenson
With just over a week left before Election Day, a historic gender gap is emerging that may decide whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins the White House.
Recent national polling has noted that women decisively backed the vice president 53 percent to 36 over her Republican rival.
Read more here:
Beyonce makes Kamala Harris endorsement Instagram official: ‘Time to sing a new song’
11:16
Chris Stevenson
Michelle Obama: ‘We’ve got to do something'
10:47
Chris Stevenson
Michelle Obama took to the stage yesterday at a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in her first appearance on the campaign trail alongside Kamala Harris.
"If we want to help this country finally turn the page on the politics of hatred and division we can't just sit around and complain – no, we've got to do something," the former first lady told the crowd.
Eric Adams urges people to ‘dial down temperature’ ahead of Trump’s MSG rally
10:00
Mike Bedigan
Beleagured New York Mayor Eric Adams urged people to “dial down the temperature” ahead of Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Gardens on Sunday evening, and dismissed suggestions that the former president was a “fascist” and should not be allowed to hold an event at the venue.
“I had those terms hurled at me by some political leaders in the city, using terms like Hitler and fascists,” he told reporters on Saturday.
“I think, as I’ve [said] over and over again... I think we could all dial down the temperature, and I’ve heard people say that the former president should not be able to have a rally in Madison Square Garden. I strongly disagree.
“This is America, this is New York, and I think it’s important that we allow individuals to exercise their right to get their message clear, to New Yorkers, and our job as a city and as a police department is to make sure they can do that in a peaceful way. I think that we must be extremely cautious.
“The heat we turn up today, pre-election, is going to have to be the heat we’re going to have to govern in, and I think we need to show a level of respectable communication, and so when people called me fascist and other terminologies, I didn’t like it, and I don’t think it’s fitting to anyone to state that the former president is equal to being Hitler.”
Adams also emphaisized the effect of such remarks on New York’s large Jewish population in the conext of rising antisemtism across the US.
The mayor is currently facing a slew of federal criminal charges relating to corruption while in office.
Doors at Trump’s rally at MSG are scheduled to open at noon eastern time, with the former president set to speak at around 5pm.
ICYMI: Michelle Obama slams ‘predator’ Trump as she delivers bleak warning for reproductive health at Harris rally
09:00
Mike Bedigan
Michelle Obama slammed Donald Trump as a “felon, slumlord” and a “predator” in a fiery speech in Michigan, where she delivered a stark warning for the future of reproductive rights in the US should the former president return to the White House.
In some of her most potent remarks on the campaign trail thus far, the former First Lady painted a sobering picture of the state of abortion rights and pregnancy care in the years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and revoked a constitutional right to abortion access.
Read more here:
Watch: Michelle Obama begs ‘don’t hand fate to Trump’ over women’s rights
08:00
Mike Bedigan
Trump promises to make McDonald’s ice cream machines ‘great again’
07:00
Mike Bedigan
Donald Trump’s famous campaign slogan collided with his love of fast food as the former president promised to make McDonald’s ice cream machines “work great again.”
The former president took to his Truth Social platform on Saturday night with a post that played off a popular meme that the franchise’s desert-making equipment is frequently out of commission.
Read more here:
Threats of armed occupations and lone-wolf terrorism: what might happen if Trump loses
06:00
Mike Bedigan
“So, we’re going to see what some of our witnesses saw on January 6th,” announces Rep Bennie Thompson, the US congressman tasked with chairing the House select committee hearing into the riots that followed the election of President Joe Biden almost four years ago.
Thompson’s voice is measured, calm – the direct opposite of what’s about to transpire in the video footage he’s just introduced. The first images show a huge crowd of people, some waving union, confederate and Trump flags, moving towards the Capitol building in Washington, DC. Then they begin breaking down barricades. There are shouts of “take the building” and “f*** you, police”. An officer calls for help on a phone line: “We are still taking metal, sharpened objects, missiles … bottles and rocks and hand-thrown chemical grade fireworks.”
Watch: Trump claims Beyoncé ‘can’t fill arena but I can three times over’
05:00
Mike Bedigan
Kamala Harris ramps up attacks on Trump as Election Day looms — after entering race with smiles and enthusiasm
04:00
Gustaf Kilander
Kamala Harris is taking an increasingly dark turn in the final days of the election campaign after starting her journey as the Democratic nominee focusing on joy and enthusiasm.
Focusing on the threat former President Donald Trump would pose to democracy if elected, Harris took part in a CNN town hall on Wednesday night, where she told the audience that Trump is “going to sit there unstable, unhinged, plotting his revenge, plotting his retribution, creating an enemies list.”
Harris confirmed that she sees Trump as a “fascist” after his former Chief of Staff John Kelly made similar comments to The New York Times. The vice president also slammed the former president after Kelly said Trump suggested that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did some good things.
Trump claims Harris rally-goers only came for Beyonce, and that singer didn’t know who VP was
03:30
Mike Bedigan
At his own rally in Pennsylvania Donald Trump said that attendees of Kamala Harris’ rally in Houston on Friday had only gone to see Beyonce, and that the music superstar did not know who the vice president was.
“[Harris] had Beyonce because she can’t draw a crowd. See this crowd, this crowd is packed. I could sell it out three times.” he said. “And we don’t have Beyonce who couldn’t fill the arena last night.
“But the people went there because they thought they’re going to hear Beyonce sing, right? Beyonce got out and said, ‘Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to endorse her. What’s her name? What’s her name? What is her name again? Oh, I’m going to endorse her.’
“So what happened is the crowd came because they thought she was going to sing. Then she turned around, she left, and Kamala started speaking, and it was a disaster.”
Earlier at another rally held in Michigan, Trump claimed that people had “booed” Beyonce as she left the stage.
Video shows crowd emptying out as Trump speaks in Pennsylvania
03:00
Mike Bedigan
Crowd empties out of half-empty arena as Trump speaks in Pennsylvania pic.twitter.com/gBzrwDx0PU
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 26, 2024
Beyonce makes Kamala Harris endorsement Instagram official: ‘Time to sing a new song’
02:45
Mike Bedigan
Michelle Obama blasts people holding Harris ‘to a higher standard than Trump’
02:30
Mike Bedigan
Michelle Obama turned her anger towards Donald Trump, and those who held Kamala Harris to “a higher standard” than her opponent.
“Can someone tell me why we’re holding Kamala to a higher standard than her opponent?” she said.
“We expect her to be intelligent, articulate, have a clear set of policies, never show too much anger … But for Trump? We expect nothing at all. No understanding of policy, no ability to put together a coherent arguments.”
Trump has “no honor, no decency, no morals,” she added. ”People write off his “childish indecency as “Trump just being Trump.”“Rather than question his horrible behavior, some folks think he’s just funny.”
She added: “I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little frustrated that some of us are choosing to ignore Donald Trump’s gross incompetence, while asking Kamala to dazzle us at every turn.
“I hope that you’ll forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse.”
In pictures: Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania
02:00
Mike Bedigan
New poll shows Harris and Trump tied as number of undecided voters shrinks
01:45
Mike Bedigan
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are tied at 49 percent nationally as the number of undecided voters shrinks with just nine days left to Election Day, a new poll shows.
One percent are set to back a third-party or independent candidate with just one percent left undecided, according to Emerson College polling.
Gustaf Kilander has the full story:
Watch: Michelle Obama expresses concern over indifference to Trump's incompetence
01:30
Mike Bedigan
Vance calls a woman who told a poll worker to 'suck my ****’ a ‘patriot’
01:15
Mike Bedigan
What a patriot. https://t.co/lJBNMhZuAZ
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 26, 2024
Harris shares a beer with Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer after rally with Michelle Obama
01:00
Mike Bedigan
”Trak-Houz” Bar & Grill
— aaron navarro (@aaronlarnavarro) October 26, 2024
VP Harris and Michigan Gov. Whitmer sharing a beer after the Harris-Michelle Obama Kalamazoo rally pic.twitter.com/YqK1NkiWUr
Trump says ‘Abortion has dropped way down as an issue'
01:45
Gustaf Kilander
Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to claim that “Abortion has dropped way down as an issue.”
He added: “States are already giving it to the PEOPLE to Vote, which is what everyone wanted. Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in the EXCEPTIONS for Rape, Incest, and the Life of the Mother.”
The former president went on to say, “Many States are already done, others are moving to a vote now. A 52 year contentious issue will finally be coming to a close. The focus now is on the broken Border, Inflation and the Economy!”
This comes after Kamala Harris held a rally in Houston, Texas on Friday focused on reproductive rights alongside Beyonce.
Michelle Obama slams ‘predator’ Trump as she delivers bleak warning for reproductive health at Harris rally
01:20
Mike Bedigan
Michelle Obama slammed Donald Trump as a “felon, slumlord” and a “predator” in a fiery speech in Michigan, where she delivered a stark warning for the future of reproductive rights in the US should the former president return to the White House.
In some of her most potent remarks on the campaign trail thus far, the former First Lady painted a sobering picture of the state of abortion rights and pregnancy care in the years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and revoked a constitutional right to abortion access.
Read more here:
Trump claims Beyoncé was booed off stage at Harris rally
01:00
Lucy Leeson
Donald Trump claimed Beyoncé was booed off stage at the Kamala Harris rally in Texas.
The former US president addressed the superstar’s support for his rival during his rally in Michigan on Saturday (26 October).
Trump said: “Last night my opponent had one of these and they got Beyoncé. You know, Beyoncé.
“So Beyoncé went up and spoke for a couple of minutes and then left. The place went crazy and booed the hell out of everybody. They thought she was going to perform.
The singer joined Harris onstage at a campaign rally in Houston, Texas on Friday (25 October), where she was joined by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.
Eric Adams urges people to ‘dial down temperature’ ahead of Trump’s MSG rally
Sunday 27 October 2024 00:50
Mike Bedigan
Beleagured New York Mayor Eric Adams urged people to “dial down the temperature” ahead of Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Gardens on Sunday, and dismissed suggestions that the former president was a “fascist” and should not be allowed to hold an event at the venue.
“I had those terms hurled at me by some political leaders in the city, using terms like Hitler and fascists,” he told reporters on Saturday.
“I think, as I’ve [said] over and over again... I think we could all dial down the temperature, and I’ve heard people say that the former president should not be able to have a rally in Madison Square Garden. I strongly disagree.
“This is America, this is New York, and I think it’s important that we allow individuals to exercise their right to get their message clear, to New Yorkers, and our job as a city and as a police department is to make sure they can do that in a peaceful way. I think that we must be extremely cautious.
“The heat we turn up today, pre-election, is going to have to be the heat we’re going to have to govern in, and I think we need to show a level of respectable communication, and so when people called me fascist and other terminologies, I didn’t like it, and I don’t think it’s fitting to anyone to state that the former president is equal to being Hitler.”
Adams also emphaisized the effect of such remarks on New York’s large Jewish population in the conext of rising antisemtism across the US.
The mayor is currently facing a slew of federal criminal charges relating to corruption while in office.
Images appear to show Pennsylvania rally-goers leaving while Trump is still speaking
Sunday 27 October 2024 00:40
Mike Bedigan
6:28 vs 6:52 pic.twitter.com/jPJ7Ioa3wv
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 26, 2024
VIDEO: Joe Rogan challenges Trump on 2020 Election claims
Sunday 27 October 2024 00:30
Mike Bedigan
Trump says RFK Jr can do ‘whatever’ he wants on health in future Trump administration
Sunday 27 October 2024 00:20
Mike Bedigan
Joe Rogan asks Trump: are you “completely committed” to having RFK Jr as part of your administration?
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) October 26, 2024
Trump says yes, except on environmental policies where he and RFK Jr disagree.
TRUMP: “I said focus on health, you can do whatever you want.” https://t.co/27dbJK7cVp pic.twitter.com/iN9f8oG2qA
Watch: Trump claims Beyoncé ‘can’t feel arena but I can three times over’
Sunday 27 October 2024 00:10
Mike Bedigan
Trump claims that if re-elected he will ensure all McDonald’s ice cream machines ‘work great again'
Sunday 27 October 2024 00:00
Mike Bedigan
In pictures: Trump rallies in Pennsylvania
Saturday 26 October 2024 23:50
Mike Bedigan
Trump claims Harris rally-goers only came for Beyonce, and that singer didn’t know who VP was
Saturday 26 October 2024 23:40
Mike Bedigan
At his own rally in Pennsylvania Donald Trump said that attendees of Kamala Harris’ rally in Houston on Friday had only gone to see Beyonce, and that the music superstar did not know who the vice president was.
“[Harris] had Beyonce because she can’t draw a crowd. See this crowd, this crowd is packed. I could sell it out three times.” he said. “And we don’t have Beyonce who couldn’t fill the arena last night.
“But the people went there because they thought they’re going to hear Beyonce sing, right? Beyonce got out and said, ‘Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to endorse her. What’s her name? What’s her name? What is her name again? Oh, I’m going to endorse her.’
“So what happened is the crowd came because they thought she was going to sing. Then she turned around, she left, and Kamala started speaking, and it was a disaster.”
Earlier at another rally held in Michigan, Trump claimed that people had “booed” Beyonce as she left the stage.
Harris blasts Trump’s overturning of Roe v Wade
Saturday 26 October 2024 23:30
Mike Bedigan
Kamala Harris: He insists that “everybody wanted Roe V. Wade to be overturned.” Everybody wanted this? Women are being denied care during miscarriages. Some only being treated once they develop sepsis? They didn't want this! pic.twitter.com/IbIQBg8Ur3
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 26, 2024
Watch: Michelle Obama expresses concern over indifference to Trump's incompetence
Saturday 26 October 2024 23:20
Mike Bedigan
In pictures: Michelle Obama rallies for Harris in Michigan
Saturday 26 October 2024 23:10
Mike Bedigan
