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They fancy themselves Nevada’s patriots.
Thousands of supporters, mostly white, middle-aged and, according to them, mostly forgotten about, were out in full force Thursday to greet President Donald Trump during a Las Vegas rally. He says he hasn’t forgotten about them, reaffirming that message with claims of strong economic growth and an America-first mindset to cheers of “Build that wall,” and “USA, USA.”
Trump’s detractors, some of whom were vocal in their displeasure outside the Las Vegas Convention Center, have repeatedly said he’s unfit for office. They say he’s divided the country with his hateful rhetoric, primarily affecting immigrants and women.
Trump’s patriots, as witnessed Thursday, disagree. Their support seemed unwavering, growing more wild as Trump played into the issues they are passionate about.
Trump said “the people of Nevada love our country” and “America is winning again.”
His supporters wore red, white and blue clothing and ballcaps, most of which sported Trump’s catchphrases of “Make America Great Again,” “Keep America Great,” and “Trump 2020.”
They arrived hours ahead of time and some tailgated, similar to a sporting event in which Trump was front and center.
The group of tailgaters snacked on potato chips and sub sandwiches from the bed of a pickup truck before pinning on their Trump campaign buttons and walking across the street to the venue. One of them, a Las Vegas mother of four wearing a Golden Knights T-shirt, implored the president to give a speech interesting enough to invigorate “a dormant” group of supporters.
“We’ve kind of reached this point where it’s like, we need something new,” she said.
Vehicles sounded their horns as two drivers fought for the last parking spot closest to the convention center. The loser, and the hundreds of cars that followed, were pushed to a parking lot on the other side of Paradise Road.
A crowd estimated at more 2,000 people outside whistled and cheered as a white pickup truck drove by with a large “Trump 2020” flag waiving from its bed.
In line, a 40-something Hispanic man named Raul stood alongside his wife, braving the sweltering 101-degree temperatures for more than four hours before the rally started for the couple’s first chance to see the president. Raul’s ethnicity is significant only because he’s the only non-white person within eyesight of the middle section of the line stretching from the entrance of the North Hall, where the rally took place, down the street toward the South Hall doors.
Raul wore a blue Trump T-shirt with a red “MAGA” hat. He said he backs the president because the former real estate mogul is focused on building the U.S. economy. Raul wants the stock market to continue growing so he can one day afford to help his three adult daughters pay off their college student loans.
“This is real life,” he said. “I’d rather our economy work in favor of people that live here, like me, rather than illegal aliens.”
Asked whether immigrants, even undocumented, could play a role in helping the U.S. economy, Raul said U.S. citizens and people living here legally are more likely “to impact businesses and growth.”
“That’s why the saying is ‘Make America Great Again,’ ” he said. “It’s America and its citizens first. I’m not for the idea of complete globalization.”
No protesters were seen near the line of Trump supporters in line, and Raul said he knows why: The typical Democratic anti-Trump protesters were missing in action because they couldn’t afford the $10 parking charge, he confidently said.
Charles Ingram, a 55-year-old business consultant from Chino, Calif., laughed in agreement with Raul. One of hundreds of California residents to drive to Las Vegas to see the president speak, Ingram said people who don’t back Trump “just don’t get it.”
Like many Californians in attendance Thursday, Ingram believes he’s part of a larger yet less vocal group of Americans in traditionally liberal areas who favor the Republican president. He took off work Thursday to make the four-hour drive, but didn’t tell his boss why he wouldn’t be in the office because “a lot of the people I work with are leftists.”
“It’s not worth upsetting anyone, and most of them wouldn’t understand anyway,” he said.
Not everyone at the rally has a vested interest in re-electing Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., whose hotly contested seat may determine the Senate’s majority party. As Raul put it, “we’re here to see Trump.”
Nevadans with opinions on Heller’s race gave a range of sentiments, from confidence in the senator’s growing relationship with Trump (something the president also touted), to resentment for Heller’s history of flip-flopping on key issues like health care. Their support of the Republican incumbent was obvious. Not immediately clear was their motivation to hit the ballot boxes from when early voting begins Oct. 20 through the midterm elections Nov. 6.
While some of the rally — like many of the people in attendance — was well-mannered and straight-forward, the inevitable Trumpian rhetoric showed its ugly side early and often. Conservative pundit Wayne Allyn Root took the stage to reminisce on Trump’s campaigning in Las Vegas before the 2016 election and was soon leading attendees in a chant of “lock her up.”
Sam Walker, a construction worker from Fresno, Calif., drove five hours to see Thursday’s rally. Like Ingram, Walker made the trek for what he called a “rare opportunity” to see the president speak.
“He never comes to California,” Walker said. “This is the closest we can get.”
The seemingly mild-mannered Walker said most Trump supporters “have moved past” the 2016 election and Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
But led by Root, Walker and thousands more were fervently chanting the worn-out phrase made popular during the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s private email server. Some went even further.
“Don’t just lock her up,” a voice from the crowd shouted. “I want her beheaded!”
Raul was given a seat on the bleachers behind Trump, where hundreds of thousands of television viewers could see him. Near Raul, four Asian adults wearing white shirts with “Chinese Americans (heart) Trump” listened intently as the president spoke.
As Trump talked about the economy’s recent successes — which include claims of record high numbers in the U.S. stock markets and near-record lows in unemployment figures — he reiterated a promise to tighten up security on the United States’ southern border through the development of a giant wall. As chants of “build that wall” erupted among the 8,500 estimated attendees, nobody in the venue shouted and pumped their fists more emphatically than Raul and the four Chinese-American T-shirt wearers.
“It’s what we needed to hear,” Raul would say after the rally. “I couldn’t have said it better.”
Trump bid the raucous crowd farewell with five thank-yous after his hourlong speech, cuing nearly two minutes of unhinged applause and cheering that suggested many Nevada Republicans were energized heading into the final weeks of campaigning ahead of the November election.