Would you believe the strongest voices of the movement to reelect President Donald Trump come from an outpost of under 40-year-olds in a solidly blue state?
At their 111th Annual Gala on Dec. 9, the New York Young Republicans showcased unparalleled tenacity and optimism that will likely set the bar for other chapters across the country.
The night began with over 1,000 people passing a petite crowd of discontented protestors on their way to be screened by the Secret Service and ended with groups of young men in tuxes spilling off the sidewalks onto a cobblestoned street in New York City’s financial district as if they were on their way back into the pages of The Great Gatsby.
Red, white and blue uplighting illuminated the Greek Revival arches inside the venue, Cipriani Wall Street. A towering Christmas tree glowed from stage left and the club’s crest was projected above like a political bat symbol.
Seven years and a few months earlier, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood on the same stage and declared that half of Donald Trump’s supporters could fit in a “basket of deplorables” – describing them as “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic.”
Do we chalk the gala’s location up to an ironic coincidence or masterful scheming at the hands of the club’s executive committee?
I think it is worth stressing that the organization is entirely run by volunteers. The hundreds of hours of planning that it takes to pull off an event of this magnitude was managed by young New Yorkers with full-time jobs who believe fundamentally in the importance of cultivating the conservative social scene in a city that the rest of the country has written off as a progressive mecca.
Millennials are often described as lazy and entitled and Gen Z is known for its social awkwardness and terminal loneliness. The NYYRC seems to have drawn the only viable members of their generation into devoted service. They are actually doing something when so many people their age are waiting by the computer screen for change.
The club’s young influence and internet awareness keep it on the edge of emerging culture. There were moments of the night that felt as though the conservative Twitter (X?) had come to life. Comedian Alex Stein was the master of ceremonies. Ginger Gaetz, wife of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, sang the national anthem while dripping in gold sequins. So honored to sing at the 111th @NYYRC gala!
Huge thanks to Nissi for writing and performing this rendition 🎶 pic.twitter.com/2V5c4NvC2F
— Ginger Gaetz (@GingerLGaetz) December 11, 2023
Gavin Wax, who has served as the club’s president for the last five years, addressed the assembled crowd twice. The native New Yorker’s 99-year-old grandmother was in attendance.
Although it currently operates “deep behind enemy lines,” the New York Young Republican Club traces its origins back to 1856 and once had more than 5,000 members and multiple clubhouses throughout the city, he told the crowd.
“We host great parties and we know how to run an organization,” Wax quipped, succinctly summarizing the key to the club’s expansion under his leadership.
Wax stressed the club’s devotion to Trump, saying the former president “understands loyalty.”
The club has already endorsed the Republican front-runner ahead of the upcoming election, arguing that the 45th president “stands for our people unashamed and head unbowed.”
“He is duty-driven by love of country; he aspires to unify, not to divide,” the club wrote in November of 2022. “We must stand with him to Save America from an elite corps of impudent snobs who will never put American interests first. ... Together, we will Make America Great Again and empower an executive able to realign this nation to its traditional core values, ensuring the American People’s prosperity far into the future.”
Trump himself entered the event around 9:30 p.m., greeted by a standing ovation with cinematic violins swelling in the background. An action hero without the silver screen – only a truly hateful progressive would be able to deny his commanding presence.
His entrance was followed by a speech from Congressman Gaetz, the recipient of the club’s Frederic René Coudert Jr. Award.
“Authenticity … is harder to find in Washington D.C. today than Jamaal Bowman during a fire drill,” he said during a moment of levity before pivoting to his more serious outlook: “We are at war. Our movement is under siege.”
Gaetz continued:What has emerged in Congress today is a dangerous Uniparty fused together by a mutual interest in changing as little as possible. They keep getting rich in a rigged game while seniors see their savings diluted and millennials see diminished lives. The generation that should be undertaking leadership cannot undertake the interest rates in modern mortgages. And interestingly, we haven’t felt or seen enough difference between Republican and Democratic control in Congress because both sides are working for the same special interests. Big business, big bank, big tech, big pharma – they fund both parties bigly.
Like Wax, Gaetz acknowledged that conservatives in Manhattan are effectively living in occupied territory.
“New Yorkers live behind enemy lines,” the congressman proclaimed.
The New Yorkers themselves confirm this and have adapted to the environment. The woman seated next to me at dinner told me she was attending with her neighbor – and that they became friends during the COVID-19 pandemic after they realized they subscribed to The New York Post when nearly everyone else in their building subscribed to The New York Times.
Maybe it is not surprising that a MAGA-centric group of young Republicans would be rapidly gaining ground in New York City.
After all, to borrow a phrase from Gaetz, the “fingerprints of President Trump” are everywhere in the city – from the towers along the West Side Highway to the ice skating rink in Central Park that residents and tourists alike flock to during the Christmas season.
“And how has the left rewarded this great man?” said Gaetz. “By trying to bankrupt and imprison him.”
But rather than exclusively rehashing established political tensions, the night’s speeches framed what will likely be the rallying cry of Republicans as they enter 2024. Namely, that they are the party of optimism, endurance, pride, and vision. And that Democrats are bitter pessimists who cheer only for destruction.
“They don’t want to make America great again because they don’t believe America was ever great,” Gaetz thundered to the applauding crowd. “It is Choose Your Fighter time.”
The gala was also a reminder: he may be registered in Florida, but Trump is New York’s president.
Wax returned to the podium to introduce the “hometown hero” just after 10 p.m.
“You will never understand Trump unless you understand the city of New York,” he declared of the fellow Queens native.
Wax continued:Because of [his 2016] win, President Trump ushered in one of the greatest periods of economic prosperity and world peace that our nation has ever known. And in many ways, it started from this very spot, on this very stage, in this very city. A city that I know President Trump loves dearly. A city that he grew up in. A city that he walked the streets in. A city that he left an indelible mark on. … Almost every corner of this city – from Manhattan to Queens – has played a massive part in the life of President Donald Trump.
By the end of Wax’s rallying call, the gala attendees were more than ready to hear from Trump himself.
“He is going to walk out to either ‘Macho Man’ or ‘YMCA,’” a Congressional staffer seated at my table told me. “I have insider info.”
Instead, Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to Be an American” thundered off the 70-foot Wedgewood dome ceiling.
“From Detroit down to Houston and New York to LA / Well, there's pride in every American heart / And it's time we stand and say: / I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free / And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me / And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today / 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land! God bless the U.S.A.”
The seated onlookers sprang to their feet when Trump moved to join Wax at the podium. The former president calmly crossed the stage, looking out into the audience.
It is hard to say which moments of Trump’s address truly should be going viral right now.
Was it when he did an onstage impression of President Joe Biden getting lost? Or when he dubbed French President Emmanuel Macron a “tricky little guy”? Certainly, mainstream publications are fixated on his reiteration of his “dictator for a day” remarks.
Trump seemed to derive greater energy from the enthusiasm of the crowd and the youth of those who made the evening happen.
“This election will decide whether your generation inherits a fascist country or a free country, whether you have the rule of tyrants or the rule of law,” he asserted. “Whether America will be destroyed by crooked Joe Biden and his goons or whether we the people will… make America great again.”
Trump waved away Biden’s calls to stop “MAGA extremists.”
“Yeah — I’m extreme about making America great again,” he shrugged.
Trump said the Democrats want Americans “weak and poor, confused, divided and afraid.”
“Why they want that I don’t know,” he posited from the podium. “If you put me back in the White House, however, their reign will be over and America will be a free nation once again.”
“The next Trump administration will be the great new beginning of American democracy. It will be the rebirth of American freedom and it will be the return of the American Dream,” he told the crowd, a significant portion of which remained standing during the entire speech. “Our mission in this race is to win a historic and powerful mandate and take back our nation from the shadow government of corrupt alliances of hidden people. … Starting on inauguration day 2025 – and you’re all going to be with me, we’re all going to be in Washington together – the Biden dictatorship will be over and we are going to bring our country back from hell.”
The intense, undeniable, relentless optimism of the New York Young Republican Club and their assembled guests loomed larger than even Trump’s charismatic persona.
“I’ve never seen enthusiasm like there is right now,” said Trump. “There has never been anything like this.”
Notably, an NBC News poll released on Nov. 19 found that Trump’s support among 18- to 34-year-olds has surpassed Biden’s – 46% versus 44%.
“I will fight for opportunities for young Americans like no president ever before,” Trump vowed.
There was, admittedly, some talk that Trump’s nearly two-hour speech went on too long. Others took the speech as confirmation that Steve Bannon, who the president repeatedly addressed from the stage, will be the next chief of staff. But – as the crowd dispersed to hotels and afterparties – the revved energy of the crowd did not collapse as often happens when a speaker has overtalked his audience.
Instead, Trump’s enthusiasts seemed revived, ready to talk of next year rather than mourn past losses and defeats. They’re focused on the future, confidently fixated on their goal.
Later in the weekend, I ran into another gala attendee who seemed to still be burning with this energy. He was discussing his frustration with progressive commentators and Biden bureaucrats.
He said, “But now, you just want to look at them and say, ‘You have one year left.’”
