Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
President Donald Trump made a campaign appearance in Minden.
Sisolak erroneously blamed for cancellation of event in Reno
MINDEN — President Donald Trump fired up thousands of supporters at an outdoor event at the airport here with a typical ad-libbed mix of bravado, insults, grievance-airing and record-touting aimed at rallying supporters to the polls in what could be a critical state for him.in November.
It was his first visit to Nevada since February, before the state recorded its first coronavirus case.
The president, arriving shortly after 7 p.m. after driving 50 minutes south from Reno-Tahoe International Airport, where the event was originally slated to be held, spoke for about 90 minutes to an excited crowd in a deeply Republican border county that ate up every minute of his remarks.
He accused Gov. Steve Sisolak of trying to block his event, although it was Reno airport officials who stopped it from taking place there, citing restrictions that limit crowd gatherings to 50 people.
“Your governor tried to stop us,” Trump said. “He tried to stop us, and we went to different venues.”
He attacked the governor and other state Democrats for making the November election here a predominantly mail-in affair, saying the governor was “in control of millions of votes” as a result.
“Here’s a guy calling venues, telling them not to have the rally, calling different venues, don’t have the rally. We’re not going to let you have the rally,” Trump claimed. “And this is the guy that we’re entrusting with millions of ballots? And then we’re supposed to win these states.”
“We didn’t,” Sisolak press secretary Meghin Delaney tweeted shortly after. “Emergency directives were put in place to protect the public health of all Nevadans. Whether people or businesses agree with the mitigation measures, those that respect that law and care about our State are following them.”
As much as he spoke off the top of his head, the president stuck to a familiar script, attacking and insulting opponent Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, mailin voting, the Mueller investigation and the “fake news” media, among other favorite targets.
He customized his remarks for the Nevada audience sparingly, ridiculing a recent poll that has him trailing Biden by 4 points in the state, 46-42, and touting another poll that he said has him performing well with Hispanics, the state’s largest minority group.
“Get your friends, get your family, get your neighbors, get your co-workers and get out and vote on Nov. 3, from Carson City to Elko, from Las Vegas to Reno and from Clark County to right here in Douglas County,” Trump said as he moved to conclude his remarks. “We are returning power to you, the American people. We are going to keep on fighting, and we are going to keep on winning, winning, winning.”
Trump’s next stop is Las Vegas, where he will attend a Latinos for Trump roundtable at 10 a.m. Sunday at Treasure Island, which is owned by his friend Phil Ruffin.
At 7 p.m. Sunday, Trump is scheduled to speak at another Great American Comeback event at Xtreme Manufacturing in Henderson. Doors open at 4 p.m.
Henderson spokeswoman Kathleen Richards said Friday that the city had issued written and verbal warnings to Xtreme Manufacturing, reminding the company of the restrictions on social gatherings. If the
company does violate the rule, it will receive a citation, she said.
Under the current coronavirus restrictions, social gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited.
Coronavirus rules thwarted the
Trump campaign’s initial plans to hold a rally in a private hangar at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport on Saturday. The airport authority sent a letter to the tenants of the hangar, saying a large event would violate the terms of their lease and potentially interfere with airport operations.
A similar event was apparently planned at the Cirrus Aviation hangar at McCarran International Airport, but it was later canceled.
The conservative Keystone Corp. put out an announcement of a Sunday reception featuring Trump co-hosted by Carolyn and Don Ahern, at a cost of $2,800 per person to attend.
Ahern is the owner of the Ahern hotel, which was fined for hosting a large Evangelicals for Trump rally last month. He’s also the owner of Xtreme Manufacturing.