UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Former President Donald Trump basked in the adulation of thousands of supporters on Long Island Wednesday night — insisting that recent attempts to kill him had “hardened my resolve” and predicting he would be the first Republican candidate to win New York state in 40 years.
“These encounters with death have not broken my will,” the Republican presidential nominee, 78, told roughly 16,000 fans at the Nassau Coliseum three days after a gunman was found hiding in the bushes of Trump’s namesake Florida golf course as he played a round.
“They have really given me a much bigger and stronger mission. They’ve only hardened my resolve to use my time on Earth to make America great again for all Americans, to put America first,” added Trump, whose ear was grazed by a would-be assassin’s bullet at a July 13 rally in western Pennsylvania.
“The reason I’m here,” Trump told the roaring crowd, was because “we are going to win New York.”
“We have to do it. We do it, and the election nationwide is over. We take over the White House and we fix up our country,” the ex-president said to New Yorkers and residents of nearby states.
At least two women got a little too caught up in the moment, flashing their bare breasts at Trump in apparent expressions of affection — with one having to be led away by police after R-rated dancing in the stands.
“We’re gonna have the greatest win in history when we pull this one off. It will be legendary,” the former president predicted.
“I say to the people of New York: With crime at record levels, with terrorists and criminals pouring in and with inflation eating your hearts out, vote for Donald Trump! What the hell do you have to lose?” he said, repeating questions he has asked of black voters and other traditionally Democratic-leaning demographics on the campaign trail.
Trump made similar claims about being on the cusp of winning New York in 2020 before losing to then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden by more than 23 percentage points.
“We are going to rescue our Democrat-run states. We are going to start by saving the great state of New York,” Trump said.
Of illegal immigrants in the Empire State, he said, “You got to get rid of these people. Give me a shot, you will have a safe New York within three months … for every New Yorker being terrorized by this wave of migrant crime, Nov. 5 will be your liberation day because you are living like hell.”
In a moment of apparent goodwill, Trump vowed not to hold a grudge against New York for its officials prosecuting him in civil and criminal cases so that they could work together to improve the quality of life in the state and city of his birth.
“Despite all of the persecution I’ve endured from the corrupt judicial system in New York,” added Trump, who was convicted May 30 of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments, “I love the people of this state and I want to give back.”
“I’m going to reduce your taxes, reduce your crime and reduce your levels of stress,” he went on — repeating his platform of eliminating federal taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits.
“The only thing that I will increase are your incomes and your love for your state will come roaring back.”
Trump even gave a shout-out to a group Long Island Republican congressmen in attendance and noted that he supports raising the $10,000 cap on the amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted from federal taxes, which was created by his own 2017 tax reform law.
One of the rallygoers was superfan Marlene Lowe, 48, of Harrison, NY, who came decked out in white cowboy boots, denim shorts and a T-shirt that said: “Yes, I’m a Trump Girl – Get Over It!”
“He’s hanging in there for us. It’s the least we can do for him. The man gets shot once, almost shot a second time, and he doesn’t miss a beat. Of course, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see him up close in person. Maybe I can get him to sign my hat,” she said.
Patrick Hill, 28, of Cherry Hill, NJ, told The Post that Trump “should have been dead twice, but here he is again. The man cannot be killed. Trump lives!
“Now let’s help him take this country back again and seal the border and undo the damage Biden wreaked on us over the past three-plus years.”
The Republican also recounted the latest assassination attempt and suggested he was allowed to live by God in order “to turn this country around.”
“God has now spared my life — it must have been God, thank you — not once but twice,” Trump said.
The latest attempt “was the second one in eight weeks by a violent radical-left mobster,” the ex-president said.
“This evil would-be assassin got within a few — 100 yards of where I stood. But thankfully, our outstanding Secret Service agent, and they are outstanding, spotted the barrel of his rifle in the bushes. Can you believe that?”
The Post overheard attendees saying Trump has to win the election but they fear that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, will somehow win in the end.
Trump slammed Harris for controversial policy positions from her 2019 campaign for the Democratic nomination, including her promises to ban fracking for oil and natural gas, abolish private health insurance and authorize free sex changes for jailed illegal immigrants.
“The day after the election, all of these things come back,” Trump said.
The Republican also boasted of polls released Wednesday afternoon by the Teamsters union showing that nearly 60% of the union’s members supported his candidacy against Harris.
“I was honored to receive the endorsement of the rank-and-file membership of the Teamsters. I love the Teamsters,” said Trump.
Typically, he said, “It’s automatic, they endorse the Democrats, automatic — for many, many decades. But you know what? They looked at [Harris], they said, ‘We’re not going there, I’m sorry.’ These are tough people.”
Trump used the speech to bash Harris’ performance on issues including the US-Mexico border — while entertaining his audience by admitting he hadn’t read his wife’s forthcoming new memoir, “Melania,” because he was “so busy” and that “if she says bad things about me, I’ll call you all up and I’ll say, ‘Don’t buy it.’”
The 45th president also announced that he was preparing to visit Aurora, Colo., where Venezuelan gang members have intimidated residents, and Springfield, Ohio, which has been inundated by Haitian migrants, who Trump incorrectly said have been eating cats and dogs.
Trump, who is in a close race against Harris in national and swing-state polls, at one point cited a survey showing him up 5% nationally and opined that “we should be 35 up, to be honest with you.”
“Some people can’t break an old habit,” he said.
“That’s really what it is.”
