Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail on Saturday in Las Vegas, his first rally since a jury ordered him on Friday to pay $83.3 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll for repeatedly defaming her after she accused him of sexual assault.
At his “Commit to Caucus” appearance at the sports park Big League Dreams Las Vegas, Trump eschewed talk of Friday’s legal decision, though he continued to make his four indictments a point of honor, telling the audience as he has at previous rallies that “I’m being indicted for you.” Trump talked his typical game at rallies — slamming President Joe Biden’s competence, painting immigrants as evil, and eliciting fear amongst his constituents that if he doesn’t win, the world will end in WWIII. One of his apparent favorite ways to drum up the chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A.” and “We want Trump” is to claim he is more competent than his Democratic competitor Biden.
Trump distanced himself by mentioning he’s a whole five years younger at age 77, that he “aced” a cognitive test, and that he comes from a lineage of smart people, citing an uncle, Dr. John Trump, who was a professor at MIT. “We have the same genes, we’re smart people… We’re like racehorses, too. You know, the fast ones produce the fast ones, and the slow ones — doesn’t work out so well.” He then added that the doctor told him the test is “a tough test” that included naming six items in order. Trump said that “only about two percent of this room could do, but I did it.” He lamented that the media didn’t cover the last question, which he claimed required him to do some math without a paper and pencil.
Somehow, he tried to tie his cognitive test diatribe into the border. “I think everybody running for president and vice president should take a cognitive test every day. And you would be amazed at how many people would fail it. So, now Biden is trying to guess a good thing. How do you think he’d do on a test? He might not get that first question, right, actually. So, now Biden is trying to gaslight the American public by claiming that his border disaster is Republicans’ fault.”
Despite touting his own perceived intelligence, Trump still flubbed during his speech. When discussing Mexico sending troops while he was in office, he said, “we got Mexico to send two-thousand-twenty-eight thousand troops” — a number that actually does not exist, and he also could not pronounce February.
In the midst of his speech in the critical battleground state, he once again attacked his sole remaining Republican rival and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, whom he defeated in New Hampshire and Iowa’s nominating contests, mentioning that his poll numbers were crushing both Haley’s and Biden’s. Trump continues to dominate the Republican primary polls, despite his numerous legal issues — and should they hurt his election prospects, Trump has warned “it’ll be bedlam in the country.”
“She doesn’t have Republican support,” he said on Saturday of Haley, who served as his United Nations ambassador, adding that “she’s unelectable” and “basically a Democrat.”
While Trump stumped in Las Vegas, Haley was in her home state of South Carolina campaigning. During her speech, she referred to Trump as being unhinged, following his victory speech in New Hampshire. “He was a bit sensitive… and I think his feelings were hurt, but he threw a temper tantrum out on stage — seriously threw a total temper tantrum and was talking about revenge,” she said on Saturday. She added: “We raised a million dollars online right after he did that.”
Later, she added, “Then he came out and he pushed the [Republican National Committee] and his people at the RNC to say that he should be the nominee and that they should push me out. And we said only two states have voted there are 48 more that have to vote.
“No matter what Donald Trump thinks, he can’t bully his way to the White House, it’s not gonna work,” she continued. “And after he did that, we raised another 1.4 million. So Donald, keep ‘em coming because it’s great.”
Haley is expected to win Nevada’s primary on Feb. 6; meanwhile, Trump is expected to win the state’s caucuses on Feb. 8. The caucus results will determine who is awarded delegates at the Republican National Convention, but the state law requires that Nevada holds a primary, so both contests are being held even though the caucus is what ultimately counts to win the nomination.
In South Carolina, which is up next for the primaries, Trump is also ahead in the Republican primary polls, despite Haley having served as the state’s governor. Still, the state allows people of any party to vote in any primary as do other states with an open primary, so the contest is not yet a foregone conclusion.
