Evening Edition: On The Campaign Trail From McDonald's To Madison Square Garden
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I'm Shannon Bream. I'm Will Kane. I'm Dana Perino. And this is the Fox News Rundown. Friday, October 25th, 2024. I'm John Saucier. We're getting even closer to Election Day, and this campaign has taken a number of twists and turns. It also features some different strategies than we've seen in the past, along with some straight out of previous playbooks. One of the plays we've seen over and over again in the last few election cycles...

bringing in the stars. A number of celebrities have appeared on stage with candidates and Friday in Houston, we're expecting Beyonce to show up to support Vice President Kamala Harris. We are not in office right now. You didn't deal with this when Trump was president. So, hey, give us another chance. And they have that benefit to be able to say we're not the ones in charge right now. So don't you want that change? But I don't think

really the Democrats have done themselves any favors by making all of their events so star-studded. This is the Fox News Rundown, Evening Edition.

We're in crunch time for this presidential election as election day is right around the corner and both candidates doing everything they can to try and court that undecided voter. Some of the recent moves on the campaign trail seem a bit out of the ordinary, though, especially in this final stretch. Donald Trump showing up at McDonald's, then ready to rally in Madison Square Garden. Vice President Kamala Harris doing an interview on Fox News and holding a rally in Deep Red, Texas.

A good ground game is important in presidential elections, but so is an adaptable strategy. That was my first time really on the trail. Of course, we go and we cover these big events. We were at the Republican convention, the Democrat convention together, and those are really exciting big events. We're talking today to Fox News digital political correspondent and reporter Brooke Singman.

This McDonald's trip was the first time in the general election cycle that I have been out to like a specific campaign event and to pull up to this McDonald's in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. Thousands of Trump supporters outside crying as this

this former president pulls up to McDonald's to walk in. I had the opportunity to walk in there with him and he walked in and said, I want a job. He said he wants a job. He made fun of Kamala Harris saying that she claimed to have worked at McDonald's but didn't have any proof of doing so. And he was in such a great mood. He learned how to use the French fry maker. And of course,

You've all seen the images at this point of him in the drive-thru window passing out that iconic McDonald's french fry in the, you know, just in the kitchen of a McDonald's. Everybody knows McDonald's. Everybody knows Donald Trump. And it really was such just...

I do think it was an impactful campaign event. And of course, the Harris campaign slammed the whole thing as a staged photo op, which I mean, realistically, isn't every campaign a staged event? I mean, they all have a plan every time they go make a stop. It's such a bizarre issue, though, because like this all stemmed from the idea that Kamala Harris worked at McDonald's and then Trump refuting it. And suddenly Trump says, you know what, I'll go to a McDonald's and I'll

all work there. And this actually got so big, Brooke, that former President Obama mentioned it during some of his speeches. I just want to listen to what he had to say here. She worked at McDonald's when she was in college to pay her expenses. She did not pretend to work at McDonald's.

When it was closed. So when you really whittle all this down, what it really comes down to is both the Republican side and the Democratic side trying to appeal to working class Americans. OK, which side do you think had that message more impactful with how they played this issue?

Quite frankly, I think the Republicans right now are actually doing a little bit of a better job when it comes to those voters, only because you see these massive star studded events happening on the Democrat side. You have Bruce Springsteen out with Kamala Harris. You have Beyonce tonight out with Vice President Harris campaigning.

And Trump just finished up a event in Texas also just hours before Harris and Beyonce are going to take the stage together. And Trump had a the mother of that murdered Jocelyn Nongere on stage with him, an average American who is the victim of of violence.

crime, illegal migrant crime, taking the life of her young daughter. And the Republicans have been able to just say, hey, we hear you, American people. We see that your gas prices are up, your groceries are up.

Inflation has been high. Crime is up. There's been an unprecedented flow of illegal migrants coming across the southern border. We are not in office right now. You didn't deal with this when Trump was president. So, hey, give us another chance. And they have that benefit to be able to say we're not the ones in charge right now. So don't you want that change?

But I don't think really the Democrats have done themselves any favors by making all of their events so star-studded. You had Samuel L. Jackson out there this week with Kamala Harris. I believe that was an event in Georgia. Spike Lee. The Democratic National Committee has gotten together and started this Young Voters campaign that is a Taylor Swift-themed Kamala-era campaign. So they're tying themselves to these big celebrity names.

hoping that the big celebrity endorsements are going to draw in that excitement, draw in those voters. But as for the average American dealing with the effects of the Biden-Harris administration right now, it does seem that, you know, having a candidate who is interested in really

at least trying to appeal to the working men and women in a human way. Because, of course, the Harris campaign is presenting their own economic policies. And of course, I'm sure there are policies that they're presenting that are attractive to the working class. But at the end of the day, your average American have a politician just show up at a McDonald's and not do a

photo op where they just take a picture, but really like surprise the customers at a drive-thru window and have a conversation. I mean, I watched former president Trump have a conversation with these customers, everyone that drove by, of course they knew he would be in the McDonald's, but I don't think they knew he was going to be popping out of that drive-thru window, uh,

giving them their order. Pretty hilarious image, by the way, too. Donald Trump, you know, have his body outside of the drive-thru window of McDonald's. Absolutely incredible. And I will say just one thing about this. One driver pulls up and says, thank you so much for not forgetting about us little people. And he said to them, what are you talking about? You're not little people. You're the big people. You're the reason that I'm doing this. And that's like,

That's special. You know, I think that there's something he has a way of connecting with people all across the board. I do think now, in fairness, Elon Musk has joined Trump on the campaign trail. I mean, the guy couldn't be more of a billionaire. He's got tons of money and tons of influence as well. And Trump has said Musk would probably be getting influence if he does.

win the election, at least alluded to it. So there is that. But one thing, Brooke, I've noticed about the strategy with the Harris campaign of bringing on these big celebrities that you mentioned, and even for President Obama himself, too, is that a lot of these celebrity speeches, specifically the Bruce Springsteen speech,

are more anti-Trump than they are pro-Kamala. Do you think that there's something to be said about voters hearing from a celebrity they might know, like a Bruce Springsteen, like a Beyonce, when their message is more impactful being anti-Trump?

Well, I think largely as this campaign is nearing the very end, I mean, we have 11 days left. I think some people are counting 10. Whatever. We are less than two weeks out. We are just over a week away at this point from when voters are casting their ballots. Obviously, like you said, voters have already voted early in states across the nation.

The Harris campaign has taken a shift and their message of new way forward has shifted because at first Kamala Harris tried to distance herself from President Biden and the Biden-Harris administration. Then she shifted and said, no, she would not change anything of what she and President Biden have done in the last four years. Now she's back to distancing herself. And now they're in this new phase of it seems to be just simply focused on

attacking Trump and reminding voters in their view that Trump is a danger to this nation. And that is what they continue to hammer, whether it's a celebrity, former President Obama, if it's Harris in her speeches, even Harris in her sit-down interview here on Fox News with Brett Baier. You know, she said, well, Trump is a danger to this nation. You know what I mean. And Brett Baier

and said, I don't. What do you mean? And, you know, they continue to go after him. One of the first few times she was actually checked in an interview, by the way. So kudos to Brett. He did a great job, of course. They delivered big numbers for Fox News as well. I think it was over 7 million viewers for that interview. So really good stuff there. All right, Brooke, I've noticed something else that's a little bit different in this campaign here with the strategies. And both candidates are doing it, really. For example, this weekend, Donald Trump, he's going to have a huge rally in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

New York City, not going to go Trump's way, according to the recent polls. New York State also not even close for Donald Trump. He's going to be there anyways, though. And on the other side, Kamala Harris, she's got a big rally in Houston, Texas going on tonight. Is Kamala Harris going to win Texas? The polls say no chance.

Nevertheless, either candidate is in these unlikely places. What's the effectiveness of this? Why are these candidates doing this strategy that you don't really see too often? I mean, you see them head to head in like a dead heat nationally. The New York Times final poll today had had Trump and Harrison a dead heat. You had the Wall Street Journal poll with Trump up two points nationally. Obviously, they need to be focusing on these battleground states and they've all been

they've both been crisscrossing the country themselves and their surrogates campaigning. So they're hitting all of the stops. But I do think, you know, I think having events in these states that they're not even really in play for, right, or these cities, I feel like it's just a way to just meet voters where they are. And just, you know, even though Donald Trump knows he's not going to win New York City or Kamala Harris knows she's not going to win Texas,

There are still Americans there that support them. And so I do think it's an interesting strategy so close to Election Day when they could be putting all their dollars into, you know, more competitive states like doing more in Pennsylvania or or Nevada or something. I mean, they are they're not skipping those states. But I do think I think it's just a way to kind of.

connect with voters that maybe they just so they don't feel forgotten, right? I mean, Trump, really New York City, Trump, they're interchangeable. I mean, his name, obviously, since he's become president has been stripped of a lot of his buildings here in New York City, but there is the infamous iconic Trump Tower,

in Midtown Manhattan. - I like how you said this, both infamous and iconic. That's very interesting there. - Yeah, right. I mean, it's true, it's iconic, but then it's infamous because of all of the transition in 2016, the Mueller investigation, everything.

The Apprentice, you know, this man owned the Plaza Hotel in New York City. This city is where Donald Trump is from. This city is where Donald Trump became Donald Trump. And there are a lot of people in New York City that love him. Yeah, maybe the city is not going to vote for him for president because it's largely blue. But there are people here that want to hear from him. And I will say,

He was here, obviously, in the spring and last fall for court, for hearings, for that unprecedented criminal trial out of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation, which was found guilty but pleaded not guilty to all of those counts of falsifying business records. And, you know, they're appealing that and trying to have that all overturned his lawyers. But when he was here.

It kept him off the campaign trail, but that didn't stop him from campaigning. I was with him when he went to a bodega in upper Manhattan and met with voters there when he talked about the rampant crime and rising crime in the city. And that crowd was very receptive to him at that time. Very receptive. Then, of course, you know, he's meeting with New York City firefighters.

delivering them pizza after he sat in court for hours and hours. I was there at that firehouse in Midtown. That was quite a scene as well. And you know what he said? He's going to try to save New York. Just weeks later, he had a huge rally in the Bronx that drove in people

I think more than 10,000 people. And then, of course, he had his big rally in Long Island just last month, which drew in 17,000 people with more thousands of people in the parking lot trying to watch his speech and his rally from on big screens.

It's been another busy week of covering the 2024 presidential campaign, and since today's Friday, we're taking a look at this campaign strategies by the candidates as we head into the weekend. Fox News digital reporter and political correspondent Brooke Singman is with us today. She gets ready to go to Madison Square Garden this weekend to cover a Donald Trump rally there. Much more with Brooke coming your way next.

I just want to know, you're going to be at the Raleigh-Madison Square Garden on Sunday. What are you expecting for this event? Because this really feels like the big culmination of the campaign event for Donald Trump.

I mean, I don't know. I know there is a lot of excitement around this. I'm excited to be able to to witness it and to report on it. And there is some of the early reports there is that there are some anti-Trump people who are trying to get tickets and then not show up this way that MSG will seem empty. It's a big arena, the world's most famous arena. You get in there and that place is enormous. And I think it's going to be.

Interesting to see if people do show up for this. Are you expecting just a very receptive Trump crowd? Are you expecting some protesters to be in there? Like really anything could happen, right? Yeah. Protesters outside, inside. Fine. I absolutely think this event will be sold out. I know that.

ploy that's going on right now. But I think that there will be more than enough people to fill those 16,500 seats. I mean, whether you like Donald Trump, you support him or you don't.

in New York City a week out from one of the most consequential elections in our lifetimes. I mean, I think there's a lot of interest here. I think the campaign will probably announce big names, but at the end of the day, we don't have those yet. And people really don't want to come for big names like they're not looking for a celebrity when they want to go to a Trump rally. It's to see Donald Trump, whether they like them or like him or not.

They want to be there. So I really think it's going to be interesting. I'm excited to go and bring you and our audience all that we can from there. And I guess we'll see. Obviously, the event has been drawing some criticism from people like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is likening the rally to, you know, World War II era rally events.

Fascism and, you know, it's a it's an interesting comparison to make when Madison Square Garden was used for political conventions multiple times over the last few decades and is sold out every night for concerts every.

hockey games and basketball games. So, yeah, I don't know. It's a weird thing to decide to draw a comparison to when this is supposed to just be an uplifting political event a week out.

We're here towards the end of the election, the nastiness at an all-time high. Brooke Segman, the campaign trail brought her from a McDonald's all the way to Madison Square Garden in the span of a week. Brooke, we know you are well prepared for it, though, and we really appreciate your reporting and your inside info. Thanks, as always, for joining us here on the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition podcast. Thanks for having me.

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