Trump Outshines Astorino At Gun Rally

When Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino heaped glowing praise on Donald Trump at an anti-SAFE Act rally at the Capitol Tuesday, the thousands gathered cheered sporadically. But when Paladino introduced Trump as the next governor of New York State, the masses roared.

Although Trump has said he will not run, the rally took a largely Trump-for-governor tone with raucous applause during his six-minute speech and numerous “Trump for Governor” signs dotting the crowd. Trump discussed New York’s economy and a lack of support for upstate—save for during campaign time, he said—before lighting into the SAFE Act, the governor’s landmark gun control law. “When you go all through the list of just negative after negative, on top of everything, they give you the SAFE Act,” he said as the crowd booed. Trump ended his remarks by saying he is with attendees “no matter where you are.”

Paladino then gave faint praise to Rob Astorino, who actually is running for governor, before Astorino took the stage. “Rob Astorino is a good man, but we need somebody who’s going to get elected,” Paladino said. “We have to win. Serving and winning are two different things. We have to win. That takes money. That takes name recognition, and that’s what’s so important for us.”