Trump hosts rally at MSG: Guest speakers, street closures, and more

NEW YORK CITY - Former President Donald Trump hosted a hometown rally at Madison Square Garden Sunday, just nine days before Election Day.

"Madison Square Garden is the center of the universe," Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said, noting the venue's storied history of hosting events including the 1971 "Fight of the Century."

The rally is one of a series of detours Trump has made from battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California, and one over the summer on the Jersey Shore. This summer he campaigned in the South Bronx.

Trump has insisted the MSG rally is part of a bigger effort to win New York — a state President Joe Biden carried four years ago with more than 60% of the vote  — but he's also made clear that the rally is personal.

"It’s the New York, but it’s also, you know, it’s MSG, it’s Madison Square Garden," Trump said during a recent radio interview. "Guys like you and I, that means a lot, those words. Madison Square Garden, right? Don’t you think so? ... It’s a very big stop."

The rally started at 5 p.m.

Here's everything you need to know:

JUMP TO RALLY LATEST | GUESTS | HISTORY OF MADISON SQUARE GARDEN | STREET CLOSURES

What has happened at the rally so far? 

The Republican nominee began what his campaign said would be his closing argument with the election nine days away by asking the same questions he’s asked at the start of every recent rally: "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" The crowd responded with a resounding "No!"

"This election is a choice between whether we’ll have four more years of gross incompetence and failure, or whether we’ll begin the greatest years in the history of our country," he said after being introduced by his wife, Melania Trump, whose rare surprise appearance comes after she has been largely absent on the campaign trail.

The event was marked by a series of racist and sexist comments from several speakers.

Trump’s childhood friend David Rem referred to the Democratic presidential candidate, who is vying to become the first woman to be elected president, as "the Antichrist" and "the devil." Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris "and her pimp handlers will destroy our country."

The opening of the rally was a hodgepodge of Trumpism, with an extended clip played from the 1970 film "Patton," a painting of the American flag with Trump in front of it hugging the Empire State Building as "God Bless America" blared from the speakers, and a stand-up routine from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that was full of lewd jokes, often invoking racist stereotypes of Latinos, Jews and Black people.

"I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico," said Hinchcliffe, whose comment was immediately flagged by Harris’ campaign as it competes with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states.

Shortly after Hinchcliffe's appearance, music superstar Bad Bunny, who is from Puerto Rico, endorsed Harris.

With just over a week to go before Election Day, the former president was to take the stage Sunday at one of the country's most well-known venues, hosting a hometown rally to deliver his campaign's closing message against Harris. The program leading up to his appearance was filled with conservative officials, longtime allies and media figures popular with conservatives like Dr. Phil McGraw and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Much of the program resembled a somewhat surreal version of July's Republican National Convention, which convened less than two days after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, who appeared at the RNC, strutted again on Sunday wearing a feather boa and tearing off his shirt to reveal a Trump campaign tee underneath. He flexed his muscles repeatedly and gestured to the crowd after telling the audience: "Trump is the only man that can fix this country today."

While some Democrats and pundits have questioned Trump’s decision to hold what they dismiss as a vanity event in his hometown, the rally guarantees Trump what he most craves: the spotlight, wall-to-wall coverage and a national audience.

The closing message he will deliver Sunday, according to his campaign, is that Harris "broke" the country and that Trump "will fix it." Rallygoers hours beforehand waved signs with the words "Trump will fix it."

Several speakers ripped Hillary Clinton, the Democrat defeated by Trump eight years ago, for saying Trump on Sunday would be "reenacting" a pro-Nazi event at the Garden in February 1939. One critic, radio host Sid Rosenberg, used a profanity to denounce the former secretary of state.

"Hey guys, they're now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists," said Alina Habba, one of Trump's attorneys, who draped a sparkly "MAGA" jacket over the lectern as she spoke. "And you know what they're claiming, guys? It's very scary. They're claiming we're going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain't that rich?"

Declared Hogan in his characteristic raspy growl: "I don't see no stinkin' Nazis in here."

Trump has denounced the four criminal indictments brought against him as politically motivated. He has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of "enemies from within," naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has called Trump a "fascist."

The arena was full hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were overflowing with Trump supporters in red "Make America Great Again" hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were blocked off and access to Penn Station was restricted.

In the crowd was Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump backer from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up. The 64-year-old said it was appropriate for Trump to be speaking at a place bills itself as "the world’s most famous arena."

"It just goes to show ya that he has a bigger following of any man that has ever lived," D'Agostino said.

Who spoke at Trump's MSG rally?

Here's the list of speakers and guests who attended the rally:

• Senator JD Vance, Vice Presidential Nominee
• Speaker Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives
• Rep. Elise Stefanik, U.S. Representative (NY-21)
• Rep. Byron Donalds, U.S. Representative, (FL-19)
• Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Former Democrat and Four Term Congresswoman (HI-02)
• Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Former Associate Attorney General of the United States and Mayor of New York City
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Former Presidential Candidate
• Lara Trump, Co-Chair, Republican National Committee
• Eric Trump, Son of President Donald J. Trump
• Donald Trump Jr., Son of President Donald J. Trump
• Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla
• Dan Scavino, Senior Advisor to President Donald J. Trump
• Stephen Miller, Senior Advisor to President Donald J. Trump
• Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship
• Tucker Carlson, Host of The Tucker Carlson Show
• Brooke Rollins, President and CEO of the America First Policy Institute
• Steve Witkoff, Founder of the Witkoff Group
• Howard Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and Co-Chair of the Trump 2024 Transition Team
• Grant Cardone, CEO, 10X
• Sergio Gor, Right for America PAC
• Michael Harris Jr., Founder of Death Row Records
• Tiffany Justice, Founder of Moms for Liberty
• Lee Greenwood, Singer
• Christopher Macchio, Opera Singer
• Mary Millben, Singer
• Sid Rosenberg, New York Radio Personality
• Kill Tony, Comedian
• Scott Lobaido, Live Painter
• David Rem, Childhood Friend of President Trump

History of Madison Square Garden 

Madison Square Garden has a history in politics, hosting events with Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1962, John F. Kennedy Jr. held a birthday celebration at the stadium where Marilyn Monroe famously sang "Happy Birthday to You, Mr. President."

But if there’s one bit of Garden history Trump might want to replicate, it's when Grover Cleveland accepted his party’s nomination in 1892, three years after leaving the White House. He went on to win the election, becoming the first and only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Street closures

NYPD Chief John Chell said there would be heavy police presence and traffic restrictions in and around the Garden limiting cars and pedestrians. 

The following streets will likely be limited to incoming traffic:

• 33rd Street between 6th Avenue & 8th Avenue
• 32nd Street between 6th Avenue & 7th Avenue
• 31st Street between 6th Avenue & 8th Avenue
• 30th Street between 6th Avenue & 8th Avenue
• 7th Avenue will be closed to pedestrians from 34th to 29th Street

The Associated Press contributed to this report.