Trump addresses Nevadans for the last time, rejoicing over early GOP voting results

Former President Donald Trump likely visited Nevada for the last time before Election Day on Thursday afternoon, bragging about Republican high turnout in early voting, mocking Vice President Kamala Harris as “low IQ” and lamenting the state of the economy and the rise of illegal immigration.

“You wouldn’t put Kamala in charge of, literally, a kindergarten class,” Trump said at the end of his nearly 95-minute speech at the nearly packed 5,600-seat Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson. The speech was interspersed with video clips and longer versions of his campaign ads.

“Ultimately you have to ask yourself, can you afford to entrust the future of our country to someone who is grossly incompetent? I don’t think so,” Trump said.

Republican Governor Joe Lombardo, Republican Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, and Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown appeared before the audience to warm up and spoke before Trump, who recognized their presence from the stage.

Trump has acknowledged Brown several times. He sat in the audience next to Senator John Barrasso (R-WY).

Particularly significant is the performance of Lombardo, who appeared on stage for the first time this year during a Trump rally, although he supported the candidate already in January. Pawnshop earlier expressed concern Down The Nevada Independent. CEO and editor Jon Ralston on Trump’s legal problems and distanced himself from six state Republicans who falsely certified that Trump won in 2020.

In his speech, Lombardo reminded voters of the local stakes in the election and that Democrats are just one seat away from a majority in the state Senate, which, if secured, could give them the ability to override his veto.

“If we are to return President Trump to office, it will have a direct impact on our senatorial, congressional and, more importantly, our Legislature,” Lombardo said, suggesting his picks for the Legislature could step into Trump’s shoes.

Trump acknowledged Lombardo’s presence at the beginning of the speech but did not invite him to the stage.

Gaetz maintained that Trump would combat political corruption by imposing term limits on Congress and banning single-stock trading. However, the Florida Republican himself came under ethical scrutiny – and indeed he did during the investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor and used illegal drugs.

Trump raised this issue several times during the conversation comment earlier this week by President Joe Biden, which sparked immediate backlash from many who interpreted it as calling Trump supporters “garbage.”

“I think I’ve heard that more than any other word,” Trump said. “How stupid is a person to say that, right? How stupid is Kamala to say this?

Trump also appeared angered by comments from retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, his longest-serving chief of staff, who said in an interview with “ CNN book by reporter Jim Sciutto, The return of the great powersthis Trump he praised aspects of Hitler’s leadership.

“He said, ‘Well, Hitler did some good things,'” Kelly recalled. “I said, ‘So what?’ And he said, “Well, (Hitler) rebuilt the economy.” But what did he do with the rebuilt economy? He turned them against his people and the world.”

Kelly admonished Trump: “I said, ‘Sir, you can never say anything good about this guy. Nothing.'”

Trump, citing his late father, responded sharply.

“My father was a great guy. He was a strong guy, but a good guy with a big heart,” Trump said. “He once told me… never use the name Nazi. You don’t use that name. Do you understand me? And never use the name Hitler. Now I am accused of being Hitler by these madmen who have lost control of our country.”

Here The Nevada Independent. main takeaways:

Enthusiasm for early voting

Trump once again an unprecedented solution touted by Republicans Early voting turnout in Nevada. From Thursday afternoon The GOP has a significant one A lead of 42,000 votes, just under 5 percent.

“We’re setting records in early voting, but we can’t let up,” Trump said of Nevada’s voting results, reminding those in attendance that the last day of early voting is Friday.

He also gave a nod to changes to the election system, such as imposing voter ID laws, and said CBS News and other major media companies like NBC involved in election interference, saying they should lose their licenses and be “locked up.”

“We will see how everything has changed,” he said.

Trump also urged those who had not yet voted to do so on Tuesday.

“With your help, we will win Nevada. We are going to beat Kamala,” he said.

Immigration

At the beginning of the rally, Trump played a clip of the mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was found dead in the Houston area in June. Two illegal immigrants from Venezuela are suspected of committing the crime.

“For thousands of people across the country, this is an ongoing issue,” Trump said.

Although there are no national statistics, research shows that undocumented people do not commit crimes more often than American citizens, and there were such cases In 2020, 21,000 homicides were recorded.

Trump once again repeated his plans to launch a mass deportation campaign if elected, and promised to impose the death penalty on immigrants who kill U.S. citizens or law enforcement officers. Later in the rally, he introduced Gary Quets, the father, to the stage Arizona resident Nicholas Quets who died while driving in Mexico.

Gary Quets added that Mexicans who kill American citizens should be extradited to the United States to face criminal charges.

At the end of his speech, Trump again raised the issue of illegal immigration, announcing he would defend the border.

“We will stop illegal immigration once and for all,” Trump said. “We will not be invaded, we will not be occupied, we will not be invaded, we will not be conquered.”

According to Pew Research Centerthe number of illegal immigrants living in the US in 2022 was still below the peak of 12.2 million in 2007.

Tax cuts

Trump has tightened his plan to eliminate taxes on overtime, Social Security and tips – inspired, he said, by a waitress he met at his non-gaming Trump International hotel near the Strip, which he owns in partnership with billionaire Phil Ruffin, owner of Cyrk Circus and Treasure Island.

He reiterated his plan, saying it would “significantly cut taxes for workers and small businesses, and we will have no tip tax, no overtime tax, and no Social Security benefit tax.”

Trump told the audience that Harris would “go to war on tipped workers” by raising the tip tax by 60 percent.

Harris has her own tip tax cut plan – it would still exempt tips from federal income tax, but tip earnings would still be subject to payroll taxes because the funds would go to Social Security and Medicare. Harris’ plan would also limit the amount of income workers could claim comes from tips.

Washington Post. reported that Harris’ advisers had only discussed a tip tax exemption for service and hospitality workers who earn $75,000 a year or less.