LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former Pres Donald Trump He rallied voters in the sweltering heat of Las Vegas, told his supporters to call for help if needed and appeared irritated by teleprompters he said were not working.
The presumptive GOP nominee’s campaign hired extra doctors, stocked fans and water bottles and allowed supporters to carry umbrellas at an outdoor rally Sunday in Las Vegas, where temperatures topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius). The Clark County Fire Department said the majority of medical calls were heat-related, with six people sent to the hospital and 24 treated on site.
“I don’t want anyone going over me. We need every voter. I don’t care about you. I just want your vote,” he joked.
Earlier in his speech, he said the campaign was about helping people feel tired and joked that “everyone,” including the US Secret Service, was concerned about crowd safety, not him.
“They never mentioned me. I’m up here sweating like a dog,” he said. “It’s hard work.”
Trump is back NevadaOne of the top battleground states in the November election for his second run after his conviction In a hush-money scandal.
The unprecedented conviction of a former president has hurt Trump’s fundraising and emboldened his supporters, but it We will have to wait and see Will it draw voters? Trump is scheduled Interviewed by New York probation officers Monday by video conference, a necessary step before his July sentencing.
Things to know about 2024 elections
Temperatures have cooled since reaching the Southwest Historical highs Last weekend, but this year was higher than normal and topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) at the rally, which took place in a small shaded park next to the airport.
In his speech, Trump said it was “not as bad” as he thought, and said he was angry that teleprompters weren’t working properly, even as he mocked President Barack Obama for relying on the device.
“I pay these teleprompter people and I’d say 20% of the time they don’t work,” he said, adding that he won’t pay the salesperson who provided the prompts. “It’s a mess.”
Campaign organizers handed out bottles of water as supporters waited in line to be screened by security officers. Inside the arena, large fans, water trays and cooling tents were placed around the perimeter.
“It’s a dry heat. It means nothing to the people of Las Vegas,” said Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald. “But it’s symbolic to the rest of America – we’re going to walk through hell” to elect Donald Trump.
McDonald and five other Republicans are accused of submitting affidavits to Congress that falsely declared Trump the winner of Nevada’s 2020 presidential election. The inquiry has been adjourned For next year.
Trump said the rioters who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to contest the election were “victims” of a “system.”
“They’re really, more than anything else, victims of what happened. All they did was protest a rigged election. That’s what they were doing. And then the police say, go in, go in, go in,” he said. “What an organization it is. A terrible one.” , terrible thing.”
The Manipulation theory It is widespread on the right that the January 6 rioters were encouraged by law enforcement. There is no basis in fact. Many of them were Said in the Capitol on January 6 – with pridePublicly, repeatedly — they did so to help the then-President.
Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general have said there is no credible evidence the 2020 election was tainted. The former president’s fraud charges have also been roundly rejected by courts, including Trump-appointed judges.
The campaign paid for additional EMS services to be on site in an emergency. The Secret Service has made exceptions for individuals to bring water bottles and umbrellas.
“You know what? It’s worth it,” said Camille Lombardi, 65, a retired nurse from suburban Las Vegas who saw Trump in person for the first time. “Too bad it wasn’t indoors, but that’s OK.”
Once upon a time Trump rally in Arizona On Thursday, the Phoenix Police Department said 11 people were taken to hospitals, treated and released for heat exhaustion. Many of Trump’s supporters waited in line for hours. Temperatures that day reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius).
Trump’s Nevada rally, his third in the state this year, came at the tail end of a western swing that included several high-dollar fundraisers where he was expected to raise millions of dollars.
Democrat Hillary Clinton He won Nevada for president in 2016 Joe Biden Inside 2020, but the only battleground state where Trump did better against Biden than Clinton was Nevada. In the 2022 midterms, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, is the only incumbent governor not to win re-election.
Trump hopes his strength among working-class voters and growing interest among Latinos will propel him to victory in the state.
In a play for Nevada’s massive service sector workforce, Trump said he would seek to eliminate taxes on tips, a key source of income for caterers, bartenders and others who run glitzy Las Vegas hotels.
Culinary union secretary-treasurer Ted Papageorge criticized Trump for making that promise, which he said the union has fought for for decades.
“Of course grant recipients need relief, but Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a criminal,” he said in a statement.
Trump’s campaign announced a renewed push for Hispanic voters ahead of the event with the Latin Americans for Trump Coalition. Four of the speakers who warmed up the crowd before Trump took the stage were Hispanic immigrants. _____
Gomez Lycon reports from Miami.
