President Donald Trump is visiting Syracuse at the OnCenter alongside Republican candidate for New York governor Bruce Blakeman on Friday.
It’s not the first time Blakeman and Trump will appear together this year, as they were at an event together on Long Island this summer.
It marks Trump’s first appearance in Syracuse in 10 years.
Blakeman said Friday that Trump chose Central New York as a rally location since it’s in the heart of the state and upstate cities have been facing economic issues.
Blakeman’s opponent, incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, has made his ties to Trump a key aspect of her campaign, but he says the only one focusing on the president is her.
“It’s Trump, Trump, Trump — first of all, Trump didn’t make us the highest taxed state, Kathy Hochul did. Our utility bills are seven times higher than the national average,” Blakeman said earlier this week.
The president’s visit is also sparking protests in the area.
They’re being organized by two outspoken anti-Trump organizations, Indivisible Onondaga County and the CNY Solidarity Coalition. They’ve organized several “No Kings” protests since President Trump began his second term last January.
Some issues they disagree with the president on are the war in Iran, immigration, healthcare and federal funding cuts.
Protest organizer Judy Jerome says seeing so many people come together over these issues is an important symbol of resistance.
“That means everything,” she said. “I mean, that means we have come together. That we are all part of resisting the corruption of this current administration.”