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LAS VEGAS — Former President Donald Trump rallied voters in the sweltering heat of Las Vegas, at times telling his supporters to ask if it was necessary and being irritable with teleprompters that he said didn’t work.
Watch the full rally in the above.
The presumptive Republican nominee’s crusade hired more doctors, carried enthusiasts and bottles of water and allowed his supporters to bring umbrellas to a rally Sunday in Las Vegas, where temperatures topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37. 8 degrees Celsius). The Clark County Fire Department said most of the medical calls were heat-related, and six other people were sent to the hospital and 24 others were treated at the scene.
“I don’t want anyone to come after me. We want each and every voter. I don’t care about you. I just want your vote,” he said, adding that he was joking.
Early in his speech, he said the crusade would offer help to others who were feeling tired and joked that “everyone,” the U. S. Secret Service added, was concerned about the protection of the crowd and not him.
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“They never talked about me. I’m here sweating like a dog,” he said. “It’s work. “
Trump returned to Nevada, one of the most hotly contested states in the November election, for his second rally since he was convicted in a hush money scandal.
The unprecedented conviction of a former president has boosted Trump’s fundraising and galvanized his supporters, but it remains to be seen whether it will sway influential voters. Trump is expected to be questioned Monday via video conference with New York probation officials, a mandatory step before his sentencing. in July.
Temperatures in the Southwest have cooled since hitting record highs last week, but they remain above the general for this time of year and topped out at 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) at the rally, which took place in a shady park next to the airport.
Early in his speech, Trump said it’s “not as bad” as he thought, and said he was angrier about the teleprompters’ malfunction, even as he mocked President Barack Obama for relying on the device.
“I pay all this money to the teleprompters, and I would say 20% of the time they don’t work,” he said, adding that he wouldn’t pay the salesperson who provided the teleprompters. “It’s a disaster. “
Campaign organizers handed out bottled water as supporters took cover to be checked by security guards. Inside the venue, fog fans, water paddles and cooling tents have been placed around the perimeter.
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“It’s dry heat. That’s no small feat for the people of Las Vegas,” said Michael McDonald, chairman of the Nevada Republican Party. “But what it symbolizes for the rest of America is that we will go through hell” to elect Donald Trump.
McDonald and five other Republicans have been accused of submitting a certificate to Congress falsely pointing to Trump as the winner of the 2020 presidential election in Nevada, and their trial was postponed until next year.
Trump said the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to contest the election were “victims” of “incrimination. “
“Actually, more than anything else, they suffered what happened. All they were doing was protesting against a rigged election. That’s what they did. And then the police say: come in, come in, come in, come in,” he said. “What a set-up it was. A terrible, terrible thing.
The conspiracy theory that the Jan. 6 rioters were encouraged through law enforcement is widespread on the right, but it has no factual basis. Many of those at the Capitol on Jan. 6 proudly said publicly that they did so to help the then-president.
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Federal and state election officials, as well as Trump’s own attorney general, said there is no credible evidence that the 2020 election was tainted. The former president’s allegations of fraud have also been roundly rejected in court, and through Trump-appointed judges.
The campaign funded the presence of additional emergency medical services on site in the event of an emergency. The Secret Service made an exception to allow people to carry private water bottles and umbrellas.
“You know what? It’s worth it,” said Camille Lombardi, a 65-year-old retired nurse from the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, who saw Trump in use for the first time. “It’s a shame that he’s not in it yet. “it’s okay. “
At a Trump rally in Arizona on Thursday, Phoenix police said 11 other people were taken to hospitals, treated and released for heat exhaustion. Many Trump supporters waited in line for hours and some were unable to enter until the room reached capacity. a record 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) that day.
Trump’s rally in Nevada, the third in the state this year, came at the end of a Western movement that included several high-value fundraising events in which he tried to raise millions of dollars.
Democrat Hillary Clinton won Nevada in 2016, as did President Joe Biden in 2020, but Nevada is the only battleground state where Trump opposed Biden more than Clinton. In mid-2022, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, will be the only sitting governor who will not be re-elected.
Trump hopes his strength among the working-class electorate and growing interest among Latinos will carry him to victory in the state.
Addressing Nevada’s huge service sector workforce, Trump said he would seek to raise taxes, a primary source of revenue for the waiters, waiters and others who run Las Vegas’ swanky hotels.
The culinary union’s secretary-treasurer, Ted Pappageorge, criticized Trump for making the pledge, a move he said the union has made for decades.
“Surely those who earn tips need relief, but the Nevada staff is wise enough to know the difference between genuine answers and the crazy cross-promises of a convicted felon,” he said in a statement.
Trump’s crusade heralded a new push for the Hispanic electorate ahead of the occasion with a coalition of Latin Americans for Trump. Four of the speakers who warmed up the crowd before Trump took the floor were Hispanic immigrants.
Gómez Licón reported from Miami.
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