OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
NFL defensive great and lifelong Democrat Lawrence Taylor joined former President Donald Trump at a massive rally in New Jersey on Saturday and declared that the current likely 2024 GOP nominee changed his political views.
“I grew up a Democrat, and I’ve always been a Democrat until I met this man right here,” Taylor told the rally as he stood next to Trump on stage, declaring that neither he nor his family would ever again vote for Democrats.
Taylor, widely viewed as one of the best defensive players to ever take the field, spent his career with the New York Giants, who play their games in New Jersey. They currently share a stadium with the AFC New York Jets.
Taylor and Trump were joined by another Giants legend, running back Otis “O.J.” Anderson at the Wildwood, N.J. rally, Just the News reported.
Trump has a slight lead over President Joe Biden in the average of polls, but he vowed to expand his campaign to blue enclaves to try and reach more voters in states like New Jersey and neighboring New York.
In fact, Trump is beginning to gallop away from Biden in a series of recent polls, which is becoming a “crisis” for the current commander-in-chief, according to a noted political analyst.
In an appearance on Fox News last week, conservative talk host Hugh Hewitt compared what is currently happening between Trump and Biden in the polls to a famous horse race.
“The former president is establishing a lead, the sort of lead if you are watching the Kentucky Derby or any of the other, Belmont Stakes, you’d be tearing up tickets if you didn’t have money on the horse named Trump,” Hewitt told anchor Bret Baier.
“He is pulling away,” he declared. “I want to go back to the CNN poll. He is 11 points ahead of Joe Biden on voters 18 to 34. That’s a crisis for him.”
Meanwhile, a striking new survey unveiled earlier this month sparked widespread speculation among political observers that Trump is poised to decisively defeat Biden in November, particularly if the figures hold steady.
“Trump’s lead over President Joe Biden has nearly doubled in the new Rasmussen Reports poll and could go even higher after today’s unexpected jump in unemployment. The latest 2024 election numbers shared with Secrets had Trump at 46%, Biden at 36%, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 9%,” the Washington Examiner reported. The outlet added that Trump led Biden by 6 points in the same survey last month.
In a five-person race that included two other improbable candidates, Trump has widened his lead over Biden to 12 points, with 48% of likely voters endorsing him compared to Biden’s 36%. The latest survey suggests that Trump has garnered support from backers of both Biden and Kennedy.
The survey also reveals that Trump has managed to retain his popularity among black voters, who traditionally vote for Democrats at a rate of 90% or more. As per the survey, Trump’s approval rating among black voters stands at 21%, whereas Biden’s approval rating is as low as 61%.
While the survey analysis doesn’t detail the reasons behind Trump’s surge, the results align with a week where he has captured significant attention by hosting daily press conferences outside the court during a New York City hush money trial. The trial and subsequent events involving Trump garnered substantial media coverage, especially from left-leaning TV networks such as CNN.
Additionally, Trump has sharpened his focus on his second-term agenda, outlining his plans to supporters of the MAGA movement should he return to the White House, as reported by the Examiner.