Staff Report
Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump made his way back to northern Nevada for the first time since August on Wednesday. The visit came as part of a double header in the state that had Trump stopping in Henderson for another rally just hours earlier.
The real estate mogul, known for his off-the-cuff performances at rallies like these, stuck mainly to the teleprompter in front of him, hitting trademark stump favorites like urban crime, taxes, international trade and even Obamacare.
“The first thing we’re going to do is repeal and replace Obamacare,” Trump said. “President [Bill] Clinton has come out and told the truth about Obamacare, in all fairness he told the truth. Two days ago, Bill Clinton torched President Obama’s signature legislation.”
The candidate went on to compare statements made by his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, who widely praised the Affordable Care Act, to statements made by Bill Clinton several days ago that the bill was “the craziest thing in the world” — a statement the former president has tried to walk back in the time since.
Trump also spent time attacking Clinton, usually using her policy positions as a springboard to his argument that she is unqualified to be president.
“Hillary Clinton is unfit to be president because she supports open borders,” Trump said. “We have to get rid of sanctuary cities…”
Trump was at that point cut off by a chant of “build that wall” from the crowd, who had earlier booed at the mention of Clinton’s name.
And in an unexpected turn of events, Trump had an interesting relationship with the pronunciation of Nevada, calling the state “Ne-vah-da” in every mention.
“Heroin overdoses are surging and meth overdoses in Ne-vah da — Ne-vah-da,” Trump said, drawing out the long “a” each time. “And you know what I said? I said, when I came out here I said, ‘nobody says it the other way, it has to be Ne-vah-da,’ right? And if you don’t say it correctly — it didn’t happen to me, but it happened to a friend of mine, he was killed.”
Trump played it off as a sort of joke, but it didn’t land well in the audience, who didn’t laugh so much as shout “Nevada!” back at the candidate. All in all though, it was only mentioned early in his stump speech and it remains unclear if the gaffe will stick in the minds of rally-goers, let alone Nevada voters at-large.
That hasn’t stopped the media, however, as pundits from cable news to local news have put the Donald through the ringer.
For more coverage on Wednesday’s Trump rally and the 2016 election, look out for the print edition of The Nevada Sagebrush, on stands every Tuesday.
The news desk can be reached at rspacek@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @TheSagebrush.
