NEWS AND OPINION:

One New York borough has a compliment or two for former President Donald Trump.

“The Bronx County Conservative Party would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Republican Presidential candidate and Conservative Party endorsee Donald J. Trump for visiting the Bronx. As one of the first groups to publicly endorse him, and having made numerous public statements and invitations, we were overjoyed to welcome him to the South Bronx,” said Gonzalo Duran, vice chairman of the Bronx County Conservative Party, in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“We would love to welcome Mr. Trump back to the Bronx anytime,” he said.

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“Organizers of the Trump rally had requested a permit for 3,500 attendees, but some news reports claim the number of attendees was between 10,000 and 20,000 or more. Nonetheless, the event was a total success, as we expected, despite attempts by Democratic leaders to unsuccessfully sabotage the event,” Mr. Duran said.

He also applauded the New York Young Republicans Club for orchestrating the “monumental event,” along with community leaders and local organizations and community leaders who also stepped up to help.

A SHOWBIZ CAMPAIGN

President Biden‘s reelection campaign is pumping up the volume on its fundraising outreach. And the latest? A “Premiere Night With the Presidents” contest is underway. Some Hollywood glitz is involved.

“Want to meet some movie stars?” the campaign asks in an emailed message circulated Monday.

“Meet President Biden, President Obama, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts and grab a photo. Your travel and hotel stay is on us! Bring along a friend and share priceless memories,” the message said, exclamation point and all.

“This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will take place in Los Angeles on June 15,” the outreach said.

The source of the message is the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee authorized by Biden for President, the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties.

A certain late-night host plays a role.

“Jimmy Kimmel will moderate a conversation with President Biden and former President Barack Obama at a Hollywood-centric L.A. fundraiser for the 2024 re-election campaign next month,” reported Deadline.com, a news site focused on West Coast showbiz.

“Kimmel is the latest late-night host to take part in a Biden event. In March, Stephen Colbert moderated a fundraiser for the Biden campaign that featured a conversation with the president, Obama and former President Bill Clinton. That event took place in New York and raised $26 million, according to the campaign,” Deadline said.

“Tickets to this event start at $250 per person and rise to $500,000 for an “event chair” listing. The latter includes four tickets in the center front orchestra, photo line access and a reception and after party,” it said.

STILL SEEKING READERS

“Say their names.”

That’s the request from Friends of the National WWII Memorial, in a Memorial Day outreach shared with Inside the Beltway. The nonprofit group plans a World War II memorial in the nation’s capital to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6.

The statement asked Americans to “help us remember the heroes of D-Day: Volunteer to read names.”

“We will read aloud the nearly 9,000 names of those laid to rest at Normandy American Cemetery, who gave their lives during Operation Overlord (June 6 – August 30, 1944). Starting at 5 a.m., we will read the names at the World War II Memorial’s newly restored Circle of Remembrance and the FDR D-Day Prayer Plaque,” the group stated.

“Reading will pause at 9:30 a.m. and resume at 11:30 a.m., continuing until approximately 2 p.m. or when the final name has been read aloud,” the group said.

Interested? Find the details at wwiimemorialfriends.org/d-day-ceremony.

THE ‘MAIN OPPONENT’

There is one more major opponent for Donald Trump in the presidential election, some say.

“Yes, it’s President Joe Biden’s name on the 2024 ballot as former President Trump’s opponent. But in reality? In reality, Trump’s main opponent in this presidential election year is the ‘mainstream’ — aka ‘liberal’ — media,” writes Jeffrey Lord, a contributing writer for NewsBusters.org, a conservative press watchdog.

“In truth, this game of targeting potential Republican presidential nominees or presidents has been played for decades. Hop in the time traveling machine and take a look at some of the coverage faced by a rising GOP star named Ronald Reagan,” Mr. Lord said.

He dug into past news media coverage to offer examples.

“The left-leaning New Republic was unsparing, one of its columnists writing that: ‘Ronald Reagan to me is still the posturing, essentially mindless and totally unconvincing candy man that he’s been in my opinion ever since I watched his first try for the Republican nomination evaporate in Miami in 1968,’” said Mr. Lord, citing the New Republic coverage.

He also found examples of anti-Reagan coverage in Harper’s magazine, Chicago Daily News, Time magazine and other news organizations.

“In the middle of the 2024 presidential election between Trump and Biden, it is more than clear that as the media of the day targeted Reagan, today’s media has zeroed in on Trump,” Mr. Lord wrote.

He also suggested that Mr. Trump’s future vice presidential running mate will also be the subject of negative coverage.

“The obvious wisdom from the media treatment of Reagan and now Trump is: buckle in,” Mr. Lord said.

POLL DU JOUR

• 2% of U.S. adults say they are “upper class”; 1% of Republicans, 2% of independents and 2% of Democrats agree.

• 15% say they are “upper-middle class”; 18% of Republicans, 11% of independents and 18% of Democrats agree.

• 39% say they are “middle class”; 35% of Republicans, 39% of independents and 44% of Democrats agree.

• 31% say they are “working class”; 31% of Republicans, 33% of independents and 28% of Democrats agree.

• 12% say they are “lower class”; 15% of Republicans, 12% of independents and 7% of Democrats agree.

• 1% don’t know what social class they are in; 0% of Republicans, 2% of independents and 2% of Democrats agree.

SOURCE: A Gallup Poll of 1,001 U.S. adults conducted by telephone April 1-22 and released Thursday.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse.