Trump Stumps in Las Vegas, Focusing on Law and Order in an Attempt at Party Unification – By Brittany Sheehan (Red State) / July 9, 2022
On Friday, former President Donald Trump made a Save America PAC campaign stop at Treasure Island Hotel in Las Vegas to stump for Nevada’s Republican candidates. The focus of the event’s roundtable, followed by a more traditional Trump rally speech, was the promotion of both Adam Laxalt, former Nevada Attorney General, who’s challenging Catherine Cortez Masto (D) in the Senate, and Joe Lombardo, the current Clark County Sheriff, who’s aiming to unseat Steve Sisolak (D) in the Governor’s race.
The theme was law and order, a pivot from the former President’s usual election integrity messaging. This subject matter was strategic, as in recent days Sheriff Lombardo and Governor Sisolak have sparred on social media over local crime rates.
Trump said Nevada is a “cesspool of crime” and argues that if drug dealers got the death penalty it would solve the drug problem in the U.S.
He said he wants a powerful police force on the streets and praised Rudy Giuliani for his policing tactics including “stop and frisk.” pic.twitter.com/rIcUxh9x4E
— Naoka F. (@naokadforeman) July 9, 2022
There seems to be a more nuanced reason not only for the short notice and invite-only stop, announced just 72 hours earlier, but also for the “Back the Blue” mantras: a faction of the party’s base is raising election integrity concerns over the June 14th primary, i.e., the crowd that supported Lombardo’s grassroots primary opponent, Joey Gilbert.
