Friday, Feb. 21, 2020 | 5:55 p.m.
In a wide-ranging speech that lasted almost two hours, President Donald Trump on Friday hit on topics including the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the recent Democratic debate in Las Vegas and immigration.
The rally at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which featured thousands of red hat-clad supporters, was the most prevalent event of Trump campaign’s swing this week through Southern Nevada and the surrounding states.
It’s the biggest example of how the Trump campaign will make a play for Nevada in 2020 after losing the state to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 by a slim margin of around 2 percentage points.
His presence in Nevada, just like last week in New Hampshire, coincided with the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination process. The Nevada caucuses are Saturday, brining rival candidates to town for a week of campaigning.
Here are some of the topics that the president hit on.
Reaction to debate
Trump criticized his Democratic challengers for their performances in Wednesday’s debate.
He repeatedly referred to Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” and called former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg “Mini-Mike.” He said that Warren “took ‘Mini Mike’ to the cleaners.”
He said former Vice President Joe Biden looked “angry” at the debate, and said he was struggling to speak. Biden has been open about his battle with stuttering.
“That’s what happens when you can’t get the words out,” he said.
Trump said reports of who “won” the debate should have said that he did. Trump noted that the candidates focused more on throwing shots at each other than they did at him.
According to polling averages from RealClearPolitics, Trump would lose a head-to-head matchup with Biden and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, but win against former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Nevada.
Yucca Mountain
Under Trump’s most recent executive budget request for fiscal 2021, there was no money earmarked for the development of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Trump’s past three budget requests have included Yucca Mountain funding.
The site, designated the nation’s only permanent nuclear waste repository in the 1980s, has long been a contentious issue for Nevadans. Nevada’s congressional delegation has held development essentially at bay for the decades it has been discussed. It currently sits empty.
“Why should you have nuclear waste in your backyard?,” Trump said. He said that there were some countries that dump nuclear waste in the ocean, but that America wouldn’t do that due to “environmental concerns.”
After Trump initially announced that he would not seek funding for Yucca Mountain in a tweet earlier this month, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak called on him to veto any legislation that wouldn’t require impacted local governments to give consent.
“As a country, we have an opportunity to move beyond the tired fight over Yucca Mountain and into an era of consent-based siting for nuclear waste,” Sisolak said in a letter to Trump he released publicly. “Nevada would welcome your support on these matters.”
Economy
Trump touted his work on the economy multiple times during the rally, contrasting himself with what he describes as socialist policies on the left.
Multiple attendees said they supported the president because of his work on the economy, among other issues.
Chase Peterson, a Las Vegas resident who works in drywall manufacturing, said he voted for Trump in 2016 and plans to do so again in 2020, citing, predominantly, the president’s impact on the economy
“The reason why I support Trump is because I see the great works that he’s done,” said Peterson, who also cited attacks on ISIS in the Middle East, trade developments with China and rising employment.
Peterson said he has seen new businesses roll into Las Vegas that compete with him, which he called a sign of a booming local economy.
Sam Peters, a Nevada resident who is running as a Republican for the state’s 4th Congressional District, also cited the economy as a reason why he supports Trump. He said that Democrats in Washington were opposing the president just because they dislike him.
“The Democratic Congress stood in his way at every turn,” he said. “Not because his policies are bad, just because they don’t like him.”
Border wall and immigration
Trump also took aim at sanctuary cities, which limit their cooperation with federal agencies that enforce immigration. His first mention of sanctuary cities received a chorus of boos from the crowd.
“Sanctuary cities endanger American lives by releasing dangerous illegal aliens directly into your communities,” Trump said.
Las Vegas is not a sanctuary city, though Metro Police have ceased involvement in the controversial 287(g) program after a federal court ruling. That agreement allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to flag undocumented immigrants for detainment after being booked by local police. Metro does still work with ICE at the Clark County Detention Center to deport undocumented immigrants that have committed violent crimes.
