Clinton offers dark vision of Trump presidency during stop in Las Vegas

By Megan Messerly

Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 | 5 p.m.

Imagine waking up on Inauguration Day and seeing Donald Trump standing in front of the Capitol, ready to take the oath of office.

That’s what Hillary Clinton asked about 400 of her supporters to do Wednesday during a rally at a local Plumbers and Pipefitters Union hall, one of several stops on a swing through Las Vegas aimed at shoring up last-minute votes before Nevada’s early voting deadline on Friday.

“On Jan. 20, we are going to have a new president and things are going to change, that’s for sure,” Clinton said. “What kind of change are we going to have?”

She also asked the crowd to imagine what life would be like for women and girls growing up during a Trump presidency, or for boys seeing Trump as a role model.

"Our girls would grow up with a president who proudly ranks women by their looks,” Clinton said. “Just imagine what that might do to your girls and women’s confidence and self worth. Imagine what it will do to our boys."

Thirty-one million people have already voted early, including half a million people here in Nevada, Clinton told the crowd. When she asked the crowd how many had early voted, scores of hands shot up into the air.

"I thank you for that and I thank you for being here, to volunteer, to get out as many votes as possible in early voting,” Clinton said. "Nevada has a big role to play in choosing our next president and commander in chief.”

But she urged her supports to “face the facts” — that many Americans are voting for Trump, and others are still undecided, not sure what either candidate would be able to do to help them and their family.

“Those of you who are out there on the phones for me, canvassing for me, talking to your friends and your co-workers ... you have six days to convince everybody you can talk to to get out and vote,” Clinton said.

She emphasized the “big role to play” Nevada has in choosing the next president and promised that, if she’s elected on Tuesday, she will be a leader who “seeks to find common ground while standing my ground on those issues that are really important.”

Clinton also addressed the deaths of the two Iowa police officers who were shot and killed in the Des Moines area early today, calling it “horrifying, heartbreaking and horribly unacceptable.”

At the beginning of the rally, Clinton appeared on stage alongside Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto, urging Nevadans to turn out and vote for her, too.

"Catherine needs your help. She needs your votes. But she’s already shown what she will do,” Clinton said. "She will fight for you when she gets to the United States Senate.

Cortez Masto expressed the same sentiment, saying that it was important to not only elect Clinton but to give her a Democratic U.S. Senate that she could work with.

Labor Secretary Tom Perez, opening for Clinton, took a shot at Cortez Masto’s opponent, Joe Heck, saying the Republican congressman reminded him of a snack he had at lunch — “because he’s been tying himself into a pretzel.”

“Am I for Donald Trump? Am I against Donald Trump? Who am I today?” Perez said, to laughter from the crowd.

"We’ve been doing great, but we’ve got to get you out. The numbers are very good. But we got to sprint to the finish of early voting,” Perez said.

Before the rally, Clinton made a surprise visit with Cortez Masto to the back of house at the Mirage, where she greeted hotel workers in an employee dining room. Clinton made several such visits during trips to Las Vegas before the Nevada caucus, and the mobilization of members of the Culinary Union, which represents hotel workers up and down the Strip, was credited with helping her win the Silver State.

In the dining room she posed for selfies with hotel workers, including one chef at the Mirage. After the photos, she turned to the throngs of workers and encouraged them to head to the polls. “We need everybody out to vote,” Clinton urged the workers.

Clinton stopped by a hair braiding salon and a barber shop in North Las Vegas after the rally. The owner of the salon, Nicky’s African American Hair Braiding, broadcast Clinton’s visit on Facebook live, getting the former secretary of state to participate. “I hope everybody is listening because we need everybody to vote, don’t we?” Clinton said during the live stream.

She also visited one of the Democratic coordinated campaign offices next door to the salon and barber shop, where she met with several dozen volunteers and Democratic congressional candidate Ruben Kihuen, who is vying to represent Nevada’s 4th Congressional District.

“This is what it’s all about,” Clinton told the volunteers. "There is nothing more important than what you’re doing calling people, those people who are knocking on doors in addition thank you, because if we turn out our voters, you know what happens, we win."