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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Trump Denounces Democratic Rivals, Touts Economy at Vegas Rally

President Donald Trump railed against Democratic candidates who hope to face him in November, the jobs performance of his predecessors, and even Hollywood’s choice for best picture in a rambling rally speech in Las Vegas on Friday afternoon.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (CN) – President Donald Trump railed against Democratic candidates who hope to face him in November, the jobs performance of his predecessors, and even Hollywood’s choice for best picture in a rambling rally speech in Las Vegas on Friday afternoon.

“We are finally putting America first,” Trump said, pointing to a recent trade agreement with China, the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement and his efforts to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

The wide-ranging speech, attended by 14 members of the fabled 1980 U.S. Olympic gold medal hockey team and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who owns the Sands Hotel and Casino, drew roughly 4,000 people, about half inside the Las Vegas Convention Center and half outside watching the president on a video screen.

Trump mocked a recent New York Times report that Russian operatives are trying to interfere in the 2020 presidential election as a Democratic hoax.

“They said today that Putin wants to make sure Trump gets elected. Here we go again,” Trump said.

The president derided Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders – also a target by Russian operatives according to U.S. intelligence officers – for honeymooning in Moscow, said former Vice President Joe Biden is often angry, and called hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer a “schmuck.” Trump said Steyer, an environmentalist, has made money in the coal industry, which the president has often championed.

Trump again called Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas.”

“I have more Indian blood than her, and I have none,” he said.

The rally came less than 24 hours before Democrats will caucus to allocate most of Nevada’s delegates for the Democratic National Convention in July.

The crowd outside the convention center first swelled to an estimated 2,000-plus, but people began filtering away and streaming steadily out of the convention center halfway through the president’s 90-minute speech.

The crowd was peppered with “Latinos for Trump” and “Women for Trump” signs.

Delia Oseguera, 65, was outside the rally with her husband, Alfred, 67. The residents of California’s Central Valley don’t think Trump hates Hispanics. They support him because he supports causes they believe in – legal immigration, a wall to keep out undocumented immigrants, and small government.

“We’re big, big Trump supporters, because he gave us hope,” Delia said after the rally.

Delia and Alfred’s fathers were both Braceros, part of an immigrant worker program, who came to the U.S. legally to work. The couple says they just want other immigrants to do it the way their fathers did.

“He did come illegally, then when he had children, he wanted to do it right,” Alfred said of his father. Alfred was born in Mexico but came to the U.S. as a toddler and later became a citizen.

Both support Trump’s goal to build a wall to keep out undocumented immigrants.

“If you want part of this, do it legally,” Alfred said.

Delia isn’t concerned about the things Trump has said about immigrants, including calling them rapists and murderers, because the president supports the kind of small government she wants. She doesn’t want murderers or rapists coming to the U.S., and she likes what Trump says about religion.

“He’s standing up for Christianity, regardless of what he has done or what he believes, I don’t care. He’s standing up for Christianity,” she said.

Also in his wide-ranging stump, Trump questioned why a foreign language film would win the best picture Oscar, extolled his performance in stimulating the economy, and claimed his daughter Ivanka Trump stimulated 500,000 jobs in her first month in the White House and 15 million jobs overall.

He claimed his administration has increased America’s median income by $10,000 annually while predecessors Barack Obama and George W. Bush increased earnings $975 and $450 respectively.

Trump claimed victory in making America great again.

“Faster and bigger than anyone thought possible,” he said.

Categories / Politics

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