It’s been 40 years since a Republican nominee has carried New York state in a presidential election.

You have to go back to President Ronald Reagan, who won the state as part of his landslide re-election victory in 1984.

But it appears former President Trump is hoping to end the GOP’s losing streak.

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“We’re coming to the Bronx,” the former president touted on social media on the eve of his Wednesday campaign event in the New York City borough, which is one of the bluest parts of a blue state.

The former president’s campaign says they expect a crowd of a couple of thousand supporters on hand when Trump speaks at Crotona Park, a public park in New York City’s most diverse and economically challenged borough.

The Bronx population is overwhelmingly Hispanic and Black, and roughly a third of its residents live below the poverty line, according to Census data. And the Bronx is one of the most Democratic-dominated counties in the country.

So why is Trump, who often holds rallies and other campaign events in politically safer locales, heading to what seems to be enemy territory?

“President Trump is unafraid to bring his message to every borough of New York, to every corner of this great country, because he believes his message is a winning one,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.

Trump won less than 10% of the vote in the Bronx in his 2016 presidential election victory. His support in the Bronx edged up to 16% in his 2020 re-election defeat, with Biden winning 83.5% of the vote.

But polls suggest Trump is making gains with Black and Hispanic voters.

Trump’s campaign thinks the former president can make a dent in Biden’s support among Black and Hispanic voters, especially younger males who may be frustrated with economic conditions – especially inflation – and who are attracted to Trump’s bravado.

“The strategy is to demonstrate to the voters of the Bronx and New York that this isn’t your typical presidential election, that Donald Trump is here to represent everybody and get our country back on track,” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told Fox News.

Donalds, a potential Trump running mate who grew up in New York City, will join the former president at the Bronx gathering.

New York City Republicans note that the GOP won a city council seat in the Bronx last year for the first time in four decades.

“There is improvement. And you have to question why there wouldn’t be more,” New York City Councilman Joe Borelli said in an interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends First.”

“Who has been in charge of the Bronx for the better part of a generation? It’s been Democrats at every level at local, state and federal government,” Borelli emphasized. “So you shouldn’t be surprised when people come out tonight in great numbers to hear someone who’s not, you know, singing from the same choir book. Donald Trump is going to go out there and really confront the public with why they’re being faced with so many economic problems from Joe Biden.”

Democrats plan a counterprotest on Thursday evening, with the Bronx Democratic Party holding their own event in the same park.

“Trump isn’t welcome in the Bronx,” they argued in a social media posting.

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H/T Fox News (read more at FoxNews.com)

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