Donald Trump’s rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden Sunday began on a bizarre note.
A man with a prop crucifix was one of the opening acts, calling Vice President Kamala Harris the “antichrist” and “the devil.”
David Rem, a speaker at the event, began his speech by talking about how Donald Trump‘s father paid for his and his sibling’s schooling after his father died—a story he has told to several right-wing publications in recent months.
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Rem, a local MAGA agitator and long-shot candidate for New York mayor, is a 60-year-old city sanitation worker from Queens who was billed as a “childhood friend” of Trump. But there is no record of the two knowing each other outside of one interaction at another rally several weeks ago in Pennsylvania.
The two seemingly met at a campaign event on Oct. 14 in Oaks—the one where Trump danced for 39 minutes rather than address the crowd—and called out to the former president from a spot near the stage. Trump later came down from the dais to speak with him.
At Sunday’s rally, Rem pulled out a cross and waved it around, saying it was his mother’s, who “continually prayed for Donald Trump,” according to his mayoral campaign website.
Rem also called NYC Mayor Eric Adams a disaster, and said that he was fluent in Spanish and would follow Trump around to swing states to talk to the Latino voters.
“Donald you need the Latino voters,” Rem said. “The Latino voters will switch this election for your favor.”
He then trumpeted that he’s running for New York City mayor in next year’s election, saying: “we need to make New York red.”
He ended his speech by telling Trump that he loved him, and chanted USA while swinging his cross.
