President Trump expresses concern over upcoming election at Nevada Rally
President Donald Trump has visited Nevada during the weekend, in his campaign effort to win the November election while allegedly claiming that Democrats were trying to steal the election.
Trump held a Saturday night rally in tiny Minden despite the guidelines from the local authorities, and his initial plan to hold one in Reno was stopped out of concern it would have violated coronavirus health measures.
During the 90-plus minutes of grievances and attacks, Trump claimed the state’s Democratic governor tried to block him and repeated his false claim that mail-in ballots would taint the election result.
“This is the guy we are entrusting with millions of ballots, unsolicited ballots, and we’re supposed to win these states. Who the hell is going to trust him?” he said.
Trump claimed the only way the Democrats can win the election is if they rig it.
Addressing a mostly mask-less crowd tightly packed together, Trump said he doesn’t have to be nice anymore,” with a focus on tearing into his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.
He claimed that the Democrat’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, would be president “in about a month” if Biden won, asserting that the former vice president would be but a figurehead and that Harris would hold power.
Trump said that the media would treat Biden “like Winston Churchill” if he was able to merely stand on the debate stage in three weeks.
Trump also offered a fierce defense of his handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 190,000 Americans and still claims nearly 1,000 lives a day.
He blamed Democratic governors across the nation, including Sisolak, for deliberately slowing the pace of reopening their states to hurt his election chances.
State Republicans claimed Sisolak tried to stop the rally, but the decision to cancel the Reno event was made by airport officials.
Sisolak has limited in-person gatherings indoors and outdoors to 50 people since May, a recommendation based on White House reopening guidelines.
Trump narrowly lost Nevada in 2016 to Clinton, and the state has trended further toward the Democrats in the past decade.
But Trump’s campaign has invested heavily in the state, relying on its ground game to turn out voters.
Democrats, by contrast, have largely relied on virtual campaign efforts during the pandemic, save for the casino workers’ Culinary Union, which has sent workers door to door.
Some Democrats fear a possible Trump momentum gain in Nevada, with the president showing increasing support from Latinos and non-college education white voters, two important constituencies in the state.
If he loses Arizona, winning Wisconsin — the most likely Midwest state for Trump to retain — would not be enough even if he keeps Florida and North Carolina.
It would require him to win somewhere else, which has led to a renewed focus on Minnesota, New Hampshire and the at-large congressional districts in Nebraska and Maine.
And Nevada has become a particular focus, with hopes of turning out huge numbers in rural areas, including Minden, population 3,000.