The Naked Cowboy usually hangs his hat in Times Square, but he made an exception on Thursday for Donald J. Trump.
The performer, lesser known as Robert Burck, made a short appearance Thursday outside the courthouse where a jury is deliberating the 34 felony counts against the former president.
In his trademark outfit — a hat, boots and little else — he performed a pro-Trump song on a guitar covered in Trump stickers.
“Indict him, convict him, throw him in jail, no matter what you do, Trump will still prevail,” he sang in Collect Pond Park, his verse punctuated by a spin and a shake of his backside.
“This is America, it should be entertaining,” said Mr. Burck, 53. “It’s a carnival.”
Mr. Burck said a sideshow was appropriate, despite the solemnity of court proceedings involving 34 felonies, because the former president is such a great entertainer — better, he conceded, than even himself.
In the more than six weeks since the trial began, Collect Pond Park has drawn supporters and critics of the former president, with “Make America Great Again” flags mixing with “Lock Him Up” signs in scrums that get broken up by the police officers who have tried to limit physical altercations.
Even with the crowd a little more sparse on Thursday, there were still clashes — usually when a Trump critic visited the pro-Trump side of the park. One anti-Trump protester had her sign grabbed and torn up, setting off a shoving match that was broken up by officers. By early afternoon, several people had been escorted from the park by the police, or directed to the side more in keeping with their personal politics.
John McGuigan, a frequent attendee bearing a rainbow “Trump Pride” banner, faced off with Jean Barish, a retired lawyer who divides her time between the Upper East Side and San Francisco, on topics ranging from gay rights to abortion to removing statues of controversial historical figures.
The exchange drew the attention of other attendees, some of whom seemed bent on inciting the conflict.
Afterward, Ms. Barish — who said she’d followed the trial on TV but “wanted to see the circus” for herself — said the atmosphere reminded her of being at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1960s, and the divisions over war and communism.
She took heart, though, from a verbal tussle that evolved from screaming to civil discourse.
“By the end of the conversation, even though we agreed to disagree about Biden versus Trump, we did agree to communicate as humans,” she said.
One Trump supporter was doing his part to spread a message of togetherness through music — specifically techno.
Kevin Diamond, who calls his switch to music production a “God-led career pivot,” was walking around the park on Thursday morning blasting his new song, “We The People.”
“I’m just trying to bring people together and remind us that what we want is a government that works for us and cares for our needs,” said Mr. Diamond, who wore a red Trump hat. “I just find it to be a good medium that transcends all borders.”
As lively as the crowd was on Thursday, it was a little too thin for Mr. Burck’s tastes. The Naked Cowboy is a Times Square fixture, and sunny skies meant there was money to be made.
The tourists who throng Times Square are good for anywhere from $80 to $100 an hour, he said, so by midmorning the Naked Cowboy had taken his show back north to the Crossroads of the World.
Wesley Parnell contributed reporting.
