People came from all over Long Island to support Donald Trump at his rally yesterday — and so, too, did people come to protest him. Local leaders held a Trump protest in the Free Speech Zone outside of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, where Trump held his rally.
“Stop the lies,” the protesters shouted. “Bump Trump!”
“Those that stand behind me represent what Long Island is about” said State Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont), gesturing to the neighbors, homeowners, healthcare workers, and advocates that joined the Trump protest.
“We stand united against hate speech, lies, and make sure that this November we put people in office that bring us together and not divide us.”
The sentiment that the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign is one of vitriol and divisiveness was a common theme throughout the Trump protest.
“Trump is bad for Long Island,” said Former State Senator Kevin Thomas. “His poisonous rhetoric is causing crime here, and we will not stand for it.”
“Stop the insanity, stop the lies, stop the divisiveness,” said Robert Zimmerman, former Congressional candidate and current Democratic National Committe member. “We have to move our country forward.”
The former president’s policies hurt Long Island, said those gathered at the Trump rally. Trump took away the “greatest tax deduction” that Long Island has ever seen, Zimmerman said.
“Donald Trump has been no good for our property taxes, no good for affordability, and let’s not even get into women’s reproductive rights,” said Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic Party Chairman, who led the protest.
The story that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating people’s pets, which was furthered on the national stage by the former president and his running mate JD Vance — who told CNN on Sunday that he had made them up — added heat to the protests.
Several local advocacy groups have since stood behind the Haitian American population, especially those here on Long Island.
Solages and her brother, Carrié Solages (D-Valley Stream), who in 2011 was the first Haitian American to be elected to the Nassau County Legislature, spoke out against the harm thank kind of rhetoric does to the immigrant population.
Those “egregious” comments are what spurred Marvin Amazan, from Uniondale, to lend his voice to the Trump protest. Amazan, himself a Haitian American, said Trump is looking to tear his community down.
That kind of hate is not what Long Island is about, said Terenna Simmons, from Uniondale.
Long Island is a “beautiful place,” she said. “How every suburbia should be.”
“We come together as a community,” she added.
Those at the Trump protest are concerned about what they perceive a red shift on Long Island. “GOP’s hard right turn is wrong for Long Island,” read signs.
“Long Island is a lot more MAGA than it used to be,” said Ruth Friedlander, from Albertson. She came to the Trump protest to “make sure that we have a voice.”
“The other side has to be represented here by the coliseum,” said Judy Kislik, from Bethpage.
The answer is to show up in November to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, protestors said.
“We stand with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” Jacobs said. “They see America as I believe we see America… as a nation of possibilities, hope and progress.”
“To have your elected officials stand with you and actually feel like you’re heard and supported is very touching,” Amazan said.
Pro-Trump rallygoers waved their flags at the group and shouted at them. They were ignored.
“We’re not going back,” the protesters chanted, unfaltering. “When we fight, we win.”
