Trump says only he can bring jobs, business to N.Y.
NEW YORK — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accepted the Conservative Party of New York State’s nomination Wednesday, saying he will reverse the “devastation” that job losses have inflicted in the Empire State.
The real estate mogul returned to his home city — “Nobody knows me better than New Yorkers,” Trump said — for the event in Manhattan. Trump cast the election in dire terms, saying that only he could bring back jobs and business to the state.
“There’s no hope, there's no hope other than if I become president,” Trump told the crowd.
The state Conservative Party’s delegates voted overwhelmingly to nominate Trump and his running-mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, earlier in the day with only a handful of abstentions, said Michael Long, the party chairman.
Long said Trump and his outsized personality give him a chance to win left-learning New York in November — which hasn’t voted Republican in a presidential election since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
"It’s an uphill battle, but I believe this is the best time for a (conservative) candidate to pull off New York state and the guy to do that is Donald Trump,” Long said.
Trump spoke for about 25 minutes without a teleprompter to the gathering of about 300 people. He pledged to reverse job losses he said have crippled the state, along with high taxes.
“I couldn’t believe it — the devastation that has happened to this state,” Trump said. “I couldn’t believe it. So we’re going to turn things around."
Trump pledged to impose a 35% tariff on U.S. companies that relocate to Mexico or overseas.
“Number one, they’re not going to leave — that’s about 95% (of businesses),” Trump said about the impact a high tariff would have. “And then if they do, that’s OK too because we’re going to make a fortune. OK? But they’re not going to leave.”
At one point, Trump brought Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino up on the stage.
“It’s nice to have the president of the United States from New York but also a Westchester resident,” Astorino said of Trump, who has a second home in the county.
Off the stage, Astorino said winning New York would be a “long shot” for Trump. He said Trump may not have been every conservative's first choice, but the election was now “down to two candidates” and Trump still has time to close the deal with those voters.
“The more Donald Trump closes his mouth and forces some focus on Hillary Clinton — you can see where the numbers are going,” Astoino said, citing a recent national poll that put Trump ahead of the Democratic presidential nominee among likely voters.
Follow Michael D'Onofrio on Twitter: @mikedonofrio_