Trump rallies midterm support and elicits protest in Syracuse

Trump rallies midterm support and elicits protest in Syracuse Categories: News Trump rallies midterm support and elicits protest in Syracuse By Sheelagh Doe and Julian DeLucia October 14, 2026 James Simpson Rally attendees sported a variety of attire in support of Trump’s presidency. Vendors also rolled between those in line, selling MAGA hats and t-shirts. On only three days’ notice, United States President Donald Trump held a midterm rally in support of Bruce Blakeman, New York Republican gubernatorial candidate, Oct. 9 in Syracuse, New York, at The Oncenter. Under one mile across Downtown Syracuse, Indivisible Onondaga County and CNY Solidarity Coalition co-organized a protest against Trump’s visit that drew around 2,500 people to Clinton Square.  Trump arrived in Central New York to promote Republican candidates before the November midterms, in which the Democrats seek to flip the Republican-majority House of Representatives and Senate.  The Ithacan was denied press credentials before the event and was therefore not allowed to report inside the convention.  Trump rally in Syracuse A winding line made up of hundreds of people of all ages began to fill the parking lot outside The Oncenter before the rally began. Various styles and types of “Make America Great Again” and Trump-related gear were visible across the crowd. Some sported hats with the slogan “Trump 2028,” invoking his claims of unconstitutionally running for a third term.  A winding line made up of hundreds of people of all ages began to fill the parking lot outside The Oncenter before the rally began. (James Simpson) Outside of The Oncenter, Caleb Slater ’18 stood next to a sign with a blown-up picture of a 10-week-old aborted fetus. He said he was president of Ithaca College Republicans during his time at Ithaca College — a club that has since disbanded after 2022 — and was involved in the Ithaca College Students for Life of America chapter. Slater said he was grateful to have the president visit Syracuse, but that he could not support Blakeman due to the candidate’s pro-abortion stance. His goals for the afternoon included educating voters on where candidates stood on the “issue of life.” “The second is to show the Republican Party that you cannot take the evangelical vote for granted,” Slater said. “Leadership was warned that endorsing Bruce Blakeman could cause voters to stay home this November. We need to lose the battle to win the war. … We cannot get lower taxes at the sacrifice of innocent babies in the womb.” Kathy Mazzuca, a retiree from Syracuse, said she came to the rally to hear Blakeman speak and that she hoped he would win over current Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul. She said she wanted to see Social Security improved, as seniors struggle with grocery, pharmaceutical drug and rent prices. She said she was also excited to see Trump speak in person. “He’s a jokester, he’s a lot of fun,” Mazzucca said. “I [hear Trump] on the media, but a lot of the time they edit certain things [out], so I don’t know what’s factual again and what’s really true. I want to hear him live and get my own opinion.”  At the rally, Trump was accompanied by Blakeman, Republican congressional candidates Kailee Buller of NY-22 and Anthony Constantino of NY-21, as well as surprise guest Mike Tyson, former heavyweight boxing champion and convicted rapist.  Carl Gardner said he would vote for a third term if Trump were to run again and that he supported the president’s immigration policy and enforcement. A roofing company owner from Cicero, NY, Gardner said he had undocumented immigrants as employees.  “I love them, they work hard, they’re efficient,” Gardner said. “They’re there every day. I’m okay with it, but you know we have laws and we have borders. They have to be followed like any other country.”  Trump rallygoers in line shouted across the street in response to protesters talking to them through a megaphone across the way. (James Simpson) Gardner said Americans need to stick to their values and reject socialism. He said that after working for nearly 40 years, he did not want to share his money with someone who does not work.  The state of New York currently has a number of Democratic Socialists of America candidates and legislators winning at various levels of government. Key figures of the movement, such as Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), both represent New York City. Additionally, there are currently nine DSA-endorsed legislators in the State Assembly and Senate.   Gardner’s comments were echoed by Trump later, who spoke about the rise of Democratic Socialist candidates in his speech.  “We’re going to elect a Republican house and a Republican senate, stop the Democrats and the communists [and] we’re going to do a number like no one’s ever seen,” Trump said. “They have a big surprise coming.” US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York, US, October 9, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard (REUTERS/via SNO Sites/Nathan Howard) Slater said that many people look at New York state as a lost cause for right-wing politicians, but he does not see it that way. “New York state is not a lost cause; it is a fundamental part of our country,” Slater said. “Our economy runs through Wall Street in New York City. … A president who is willing to say, ‘I’m going to come here and speak up for the voices in Central New York’ to me, [is] someone who didn’t forget where he came from. Trump is a born and raised New Yorker, and it’s great to see him in our backyard right here in Central New York.” According to U.S. Census Bureau data, approximately 12 million people live in New York City and its bordering counties, accounting for over half of the entire state’s population of 20 million. This is despite these areas representing under 10% of the state’s total land area. Gallery • 3 Photos James Simpson Protesters stood behind barricades across the street from the line of rally attendees, protesting Trump’s visit to Syracuse. Matt Gordon, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, repeated his favorite Trump quotes at the rally goers with a megaphone. Across the street from the line of Trump enthusiasts winding around metal barricades and eyeing the carts of MAGA hats, were four protesters shouting across the way from the outside of the Everson Museum of Art with a megaphone.  Matt Gordon, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and an Instagram influencer, said he believes veterans who support Trump have betrayed their oath to the country. Gordon held the megaphone and had a denim battle jacket on which read “Nazi lives don’t matter” on the back. He was reciting his favorite Trump quotes while the rallygoers leaned over the metal barricade, flipping him off and yelling back.  “Donald Trump has done more damage to the Constitution than any president before him,” Gordon said. “Our oath is to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”  Standing alongside Gordon and waving a black Antifa flag was Quentin Baggett, a Syracuse resident and healthcare worker. Baggett said he took his day off to come out and protest against “the f—kery.” “White supremacy was supposed to be gone 500 years ago,” Baggett said. “The thing is, [white supremacists] went from [white] hoods to red hats, but they’re still wearing the hoods.” Protest against the Trump rally Under a mile away, the UNiTY Street Band, a Syracuse-based activist music collective, warmed up and tested their instruments, preparing to lead a gathering crowd in chants and songs.  Protesters held signs that read “are we great yet cause I feel embarrassed” and “all of my outrage can’t fit on this sign.” Activist in Syracuse holding an upside down American flag to protest President Trump. (Jack Harkins) Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens opened the protest. Owens said Syracuse is a community that embraces diversity, equality and inclusivity and stressed the importance of voting in November. She said she and her community demand equal housing, the protection of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement be dismantled. “I don’t know what other people call it, but when people are taken off the streets of America with no due process, that’s kidnapping,” Owens said. “I wanted you to know that I wanted to be here [and] I wanted to stand with you. I love this city, [and] I love everything we’re doing.”  Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens was the first guest speaker at the protest on Clinton Square. She emphasized the importance of voting; early voting opens Oct. 24. (James Simpson) Friends Shannon and Sarah said they were at the protest because they were disgusted to learn of Trump coming to Syracuse. Shannon and Sarah both declined to share their last names due to privacy concerns in their field. From presidential administration to higher education, Sarah and Shannon spoke of the trickle-down effect that seeing a president with dozens of sexual misconduct allegations has on young men. “It’s a direct line from a president who brags about sexual assault to young men brazenly [thinking] they can get away with that, and admit so in a Snapchat,” Sarah said. Joe Heath, General Counsel of the Onondaga Nation, condemned Trump’s collusion with billionaires and degradation of environmental policy. He said Trump’s is the worst environmental regime in U.S. history.  “They want to take us back to where you can’t [breathe] the air in the cities and the rivers in Ohio start [to catch] fire,” Heath said. “Trump is not welcome in Onondaga Nation territory. He’s a serial rapist and abuser of women. He’s a warmonger. His attacks on refugees are fundamentally un-American. This visit here is an insult to all of us and to our democracy, and it’s an insult to the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace.”  Protesters at Clinton Square listened to various guest speakers from the community talk at the protest, condemning President Trump and his administration and advocating for early voting. (James Simpson) Andy Mager, coordinator for the Syracuse Cultural Workers Project, said Trump and his administration are a threat of fascism that has previously been unseen in the US. He condemned the Iran war, the continued genocide in Gaza and the regime-change and bombing of domestic boats in Venezuela.  At the Republican National Convention in September, Trump led his supporters in a pledge in which he had them repeat the phrase “I don’t care if I’m registered or not, I’m gonna try and cheat like hell like [Democrats] do.” Around 2,500 protesters gathered at Clinton Square, carrying signs that opposed Trump’s presidency and visit to Syracuse. (Jack Harkins) Shannon and Sarah said all of the things they are worried about in the upcoming midterm elections were about what the current administration might do if the Democrats win. Since the presidential election in 2020, Trump has continued to double down on his belief that the election was fraudulent, sending FBI agents this year to seize hundreds of boxes of 2020 ballots from Fulton County, Georgia. “All the things I worry about them doing in reaction to losing the midterms, they’ve already kind of done, to test the waters,” Shannon said. “I’m not anxious because I think Democrats aren’t going to win. I’m anxious about what’s going to happen when they do.” Mina Aguilar, director of advocacy at the Workers Center of Central New York, called for the end of informal collaboration between local law enforcement agencies and ICE and for updates to be made to the Immigration Registry Act, allowing for millions of undocumented immigrants to gain pathways to citizenship. A 2024 study done by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found undocumented immigrants pay nearly $100 billion in taxes in 2022.  “Immigrants are more than just their labor,” Aguilar said. “This is the moment to show them that without our labor, they have no power. It is our collective organizing that will change things for the working class, for ourselves and the generations that follow.”  Throughout the protest, Clemmie Harris, associate professor of history and director of Africana Studies at Utica University, returned to the podium to lead the protestors in reciting variations of the poem “I Am… Somebody,” by recently deceased civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson. (James Simpson) The protest in Clinton Square concluded with thousands joining together in song, singing, “We are wonderful, we are powerful, together, we rise.”  Protesters raised their signs high and began to march under one mile to The Oncenter, where Trump had yet to speak. The front of the march was led by some of the protest organizers in bright yellow vests who slowed the accelerating speed of the demonstrators as evening set and streets were filled with the voices of chants condemning Trump. Protesters flooded the streets and eventually came to a halt in front of the barricade to The Oncenter.  Police were present just beyond the waving flags and shouting protesters, staring pointedly ahead at the mass of people facing them. (James Simpson) Police cars were parked just beyond the waving flags and shouting protesters, staring pointedly ahead at the mass of people facing them. Gathering around the barrier and moving along the perimeter of The Oncenter, protesters arrived by the hundreds, chanting “f—k you pedophile,” “get ICE out” and “the people united will never be defeated.” View Story Comments 0 Like This Story Share on Facebook Share on X Email this Story Print this Story Leave a Comment Donate to The Ithacan $1,925 $3,000 Contributed Our Goal Your donation will support The Ithacan's student journalists in their effort to keep the Ithaca College and wider Ithaca community informed. Your contribution will go toward covering our annual website hosting costs and supplementing other expenses, including travel to conferences. Donate More to Discover More in News The Ithacan's 2026 guide to New York state midterm elections 2026 New York Attorney General candidates 2026 candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York 2026 New York State Assembly District 125 Candidate 2026 New York State Senate District 52 Candidates 2026 candidates for NY Congressional District 19 About the Contributors Sheelagh Doe, Managing Editor Formerly: Life and Culture Editor – Spring 2025, Fall 2025 Julian DeLucia, Community Outreach Manager Formerly: Assistant News Editor – Spring 2025, Fall 2025 Jack Harkins, Assistant Photo Editor James Simpson, Photo Editor