David Rem wasn’t well-known outside New York City politics before Sunday, but he shot up the ranks in MAGA-world fandom after he took to Madison Square Garden to wave a crucifix and call Kamala Harris the “antichrist” on stage.
The infamous Republican agitator, who‘s recently been tossed from an Alvin Bragg press conference and declared “I’m not racist” while speaking alongside an already-indicted George Santos at another, was described Sunday as being a “childhood friend” of Trump by the former president’s campaign.
Rem was among a list of head-scratching speakers called on to represent Trump so close to Election Day.
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Rem has associated with some of the right’s most fringe characters—like being the campaign manager of the failed NYC city council candidate Jonathan Rinaldi, who was proudly nicknamed the “sperminator.” Rem told The New York Post his boss earned the moniker because he’d donated so much of his “superior” genetic material that hadn’t been contaminated by a COVID vaccine.
Also questionable is Rem’s supposed relationship with Trump. As first noted by The Handbasket, Rem has explained that Trump’s late father, Fred Trump, covered the tuition for Rem and his siblings to attend the same private school, Kew Forest, the younger Trump also attended.
Records show that Rem, a sanitation worker who was a registered Democrat in the early 2000s, was born in January 1964. That’d make him 60—about 18 years younger than Trump. While its unclear how far back their relationship goes, Rem has made his admiration of Trump clear in media appearances and on his social media, where he’s an avid poster.
In an interview with the right-wing Real America’s Voice in May, Rem ended his appearance by saying, “I love you Donald. I would love to be able to shake your hand. It was my mom’s last dying wish.”
Rem’s wish came true earlier this month when he shouted his story at Trump during a pause at a town hall where he infamously danced on stage for an extended period. Trump walked down from the stage and met with Rem, who Trump called “the man” before signing a yearbook.
It was perhaps that moment that earned Rem a shot on stage at one of the most-watched and attended Trump rallies. With that rally spot, however, Rem has also been placed under a microscope, with old clips of him resurfacing. That included a clip where he was captured begging Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy, to let him into the New York Young Republican Club’s Christmas party last year.
A more serious revelation came on Sunday when investigative journalist Jacqueline Sweet reported that Rem was arrested in 1992 for transporting 18 kilos of cocaine from Los Angeles to Chicago. The Daily Beast viewed records from an Illinois District Court that backed up that an arrest of that nature occurred, but was unable to confirm it was the same Rem who spoke on stage Sunday.
A friend of Rem’s told Sweet that he is “reformed” from that reported incident.
Rem is now an outspoken conservative who has suggested he has political ambitions of his own. He claimed to be running for Congress in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district, but The Handbasket reported his candidacy was never official.
Rem also said at his MSG rally that he next wanted to run for mayor of New York City, drawing a raucous applause from the crowd.
If Rem wants to make a serious run, however, he’ll likely need to do some cleanup on his social media. As of Monday, his public accounts remained littered with posts that aren’t so becoming of a wannabe politician—like a 2020 post to X where he indicated he’d want his nurse to have her thong showing if he needed medical care.
