Trump touts 'very heavy play' for New York in 2024

Former President Donald Trump on Monday indicated his campaign would make a substantive effort to win New York during the 2024 presidential election.

"New York State is a much different place now than it was even two years ago," he declared on Truth Social. "We will be making a very heavy play for New York in the upcoming Presidential Election. November 5th will be the most important day in the History of our Country!"

The Empire State has not backed a Republican for president since 1984.

Accompanying Trump's remarks was a "thank you' message to a number of New York Republican leaders and committees that had thrown their support behind him.

Trump has previously suggested he would invest in several traditionally blue states this election cycle, including New York. In particular, he highlighted former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin's 2022 gubernatorial campaign that saw him mount a competitive challenge to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul as evidence that Republicans could flip the state.

"I believe we have a chance to win New York. I believe we have a chance to win New Jersey. If you look at Lee, he lost by a pretty close race. But it’s 100 times worse now than it was two years ago. Now, you have people—you have migrants living on Madison Avenue," he told Breitbart News in January. "You can’t get into a hospital. You can’t get into a school. You go to a public school and half the kids are sitting there and have no idea what the teacher is saying. You can’t get into these schools. I think it’s really bad and I think the people in New York and New Jersey and a lot of these states are—it would have been semi-unthinkable but I think these are states that can be won."

During that interview, he further mentioned that he saw the chance for Republican gains in New Mexico, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Virginia.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.