CNN
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Donald Trump’s Western political spree continues on Sunday with his first campaign rally since his historic conviction in last month’s hush money trial in New York.
The Las Vegas event follows a string of visits by the former president, including a high-profile fundraiser in California and a campaign rally in Arizona. On Saturday night, he attended a Las Vegas fundraiser hosted by longtime ally and construction equipment magnate Don Ahearn.
Trump’s Western trip comes at a critical juncture in his campaign, as the former president seeks to pivot his message to the general election after a seven-week criminal trial in which he was convicted of 34 felony counts related to making hush money payments to porn actresses before the 2016 election.
The Trump campaign is expected to launch a new “Latinos for Trump” coalition during its visit to Las Vegas as it seeks to step up outreach to Hispanic voters ahead of the November election, and the decision to launch the new program in Nevada is no coincidence.
Recent polls have shown a notable uptick in support for Trump among Hispanic voters, who have traditionally voted Democratic. In states like Nevada, where Hispanic voters make up a sizable portion of the electorate, winning over some of them could help Trump win key battleground states and ultimately the White House. Nevada has supported Democratic candidates in four consecutive presidential elections, but Joe Biden won the 2020 election by just 2 points.
“Some people think Nevada might have a better chance. [this cycle] “It’s even more than Georgia,” a source close to Trump told CNN.
Trump campaign sources pointed specifically to the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for the optimistic outlook, with Nevada hit particularly hard by the pandemic due to its reliance on tourism and hospitality.
A senior adviser said the group is also considering working with Nevada’s powerful Culinary Union, which has traditionally worked closely with Democrats as part of a massive get-out-the-vote effort engineered by the late Sen. Harry Reid. Last month, the Culinary Union rescinded its support for several Democratic state lawmakers who voted to roll back pandemic cleaning requirements imposed on the casino industry.
Senior Trump advisers told CNN that immigration, crime and the economy are expected to be central to Trump’s Las Vegas speech.
“Las Vegas has been hit hard on a number of fronts, particularly the rising cost of housing and home ownership, the rising cost of food in the area. It’s a really big problem over there,” one adviser said.
But it’s unclear whether Trump can stay true to his message.
Speaking at a rally in Phoenix on Thursday organized by the conservative group Turning Point Action, Trump slammed his conviction, calling it an “injustice” and calling on the court to overturn it.
“The Court of Appeals has to stand up and set things right, or we’re going to no longer have a country,” Trump told the crowd.
In a series of interviews over the past week, President Trump has refused to back down from threats of retaliatory action against his political opponents if he wins the presidential election.
“Revenge does take time, I’ll admit that,” Trump said in an interview with psychologist Phil McGraw, aka Dr. Phil, “and sometimes revenge is justified. And let me be honest with you, Phil, you know, sometimes it is justified.”
But Trump stayed somewhat on message during his town hall speech in Phoenix, speaking at length about immigration, an issue his team sees as Biden’s biggest weakness ahead of November.
In an attempt to address this vulnerability, Biden announced an executive order last week that gives him the power to effectively close the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers who enter illegally if the number of daily crossings exceeds a certain threshold. In his Phoenix speech, Trump repeatedly criticized Biden over the move, calling it “bullshit” and vowing to roll back the new asylum restrictions if re-elected.
In addition to the closely watched presidential election, Nevada is also home to a Senate race this year in which Democratic incumbent Jacky Rosen is seeking a second term. Trump has yet to publicly endorse him in the state’s increasingly competitive Republican Senate primary, making it increasingly unlikely he will do so before Tuesday’s party election, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump is under pressure to endorse Sam Brown, a former Army captain who was severely burned by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. In April, Trump posted on social media that Brown and the former president are “the clear choice of Nevada Republican voters and donors.” But Trump supporters are accusing Brown of having ties to mainstream Republicans. Brown was personally encouraged to run by Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, who is the Senate Republican campaign manager. Instead, they urged the former president to endorse Jeff Gunter, Trump’s former ambassador to Iceland.
Gunter was scheduled to appear with Trump at a fundraiser on Saturday, but Brown did not attend. Ahern, who hosted the event at his luxury boutique hotel, endorsed Brown, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the state’s other Senate seat in 2022. But Ahern has endorsed Gunter this term and is urging Trump to do the same.
The Trump campaign has frequently held outdoor rallies in recent months but is bracing for scorching heat on Sunday, when temperatures are expected to reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
In preparation, the Trump campaign has doubled the number of emergency medical staff at the rally, added new misting fans and significantly increased the amount of water available to attendees, according to campaign officials.
Officials said the promotion will provide more than 38,000 bottles of water throughout Las Vegas’ Sunset Park, 20 Power Breather mist fans, at least one air-conditioned cooling tent, pop-up umbrella tents throughout the venue, and additional metal detectors will be added to reduce security wait times.
A Phoenix Fire Department spokesperson told CNN the new precautions were taken after 12 people were taken to hospital with heatstroke at a Trump campaign event in Phoenix.
