New York Congressman Ritchie Torres says Bronx has 'no greater enemy than Donald Trump' after ex-president announces rally in borough

Donald Trump announced he is holding a campaign rally in the Bronx as he runs for president while standing criminal trial in New York for hush money payments. 

But the congressman who represents the district said that his district would not be fooled by the ex-president. 

'Donald Trump announced an upcoming rally in my Congressional District in the South Bronx,' Congressman Ritchie Torres wrote on X. 'The South Bronx has no greater enemy than Donald Trump.'

Torres claimed the former president is 'on a mission to dismantle the social safety net on which Bronx families depend for their survival.'

'Trump is and has always been a fraud. The South Bronx—the most Democratic area in the nation—will not buy the snake oil that he is selling,' he wrote.

Donald Trump speaking at the Manhattan criminal court where he's standing trial on Thursday, March 16

His harsh post comes after Trump announced he would be holding a rally the New York outer-borough this coming Thursday. 

In the announcement, the Trump campaign said the ex-president would visit to 'highlight the horrendous effects Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous presidency has had on our economy.'

The announcement also claimed both 'New York City and the state at large have been ravaged by monumental surges in violent crime as a direct result of Biden’s and Democrats’ pro-criminal policies.'

Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres says the Bronx has 'no greater enemy than Donald Trump' after ex-president announced campaign event in his district on Thursday 

It noted the increase in murders since 2019 levels. Crime across the country did escalate as the United States faced the coronavirus pandemic. 

But in New York City, some violent crimes have been trending back downward following the pandemic. 

Homicides were down nearly twelve precent in 2023 from 2022. Shootings were also down from pandemic highs with a nearly 25 percent decrease from 2022 to 2023. 

However, both remain above historic lows set just before the pandemic in 2017 and 2018. 

Trump has seized on rising crime and persistent inflation as he mounts a third bid for the White House. 

The ex-president has been in a Manhattan criminal courtroom for the better part of two months as he stands trial on 34 counts for falsifying business records. 

Donald Trump in in the courtroom for his hush money trial on May 16. The ex-president is facing 34 counts for falsifying business records 

Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen seen here leaving his apartment for court on May 16. His testimony is set to resume Monday. 

The testimony of his former fixer Michael Cohen is set to resume on Monday after court was out Friday as Trump attended his son Barron's graduation. 

Cohen is a star witness in the hush money case. Once his testimony wraps up, it is expected that the prosecution will rest its case. 

Trump has previously said last month he would take the stand in his own defense, but he appeared to backtrack since and it is not clear whether he would testify. 

The judge has directed both sides to be ready for closing arguments as soon as Tuesday. It means jury deliberation and even a verdict could come as soon as this week. 

Trump at a recent campaign rally in Wildwood, NJ on May 11. The ex-president announced a campaign event in the Bronx on May 23

Donald Trump speaking with a bodega owner in Harlem during a campaign stop on April 16

Trump meeting with workers at a construction site in New York City on April 25

Donald Trump after delivering pizzas to firefighters in midtown Manhattan on May 2

 When Trump is not in the courtroom, he has been holding a series of rallies. Last weekend, he headed to Wildwood, New Jersey for a rancorous rally on the beach. 

He also received celebratory welcomes from construction workers during a visit last month in midtown Manhattan and delivering pizzas to firefighters with the New York Fire Department in early May.

As he focuses on crime, Trump also stopped by a bodega in Harlem in mid-April where a worker stabbed an ex-con to death last year. During his visit, he met with the store's two current owners as supporters swarmed outside.

Trump has been claiming he could win New York this November. But it is a wild stretch. The last Republican to win the state in a presidential election was President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Biden beat Trump in the Empire State by double-digits in 2020 with more than 60 percent of the vote to Trump's less than 38 percent. 

In the 15th Congressional District where Trump is set to campaign on Thursday, Congressman Torres won with more than 82 percent of the vote in the 2022 midterms.