Four takeaways from Trump's voter-focused AAPI rally in Vegas

Just days after early voting began and less than two weeks before Election Day, former President Donald Trump made his final stop in Las Vegas on Thursday evening and played the hits of his standard speech – railing against undocumented immigrants and radically attacking Vice President Kamala Harris and incompetent, he complains about inflation, increases tariffs, promises tax and price cuts and speaks in grandiose terms about the election and his campaign.

The event, hosted by Turning Point Action, a student-focused conservative group, targeted Asian American, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) voters — the first Trump event in Nevada aimed at that bloc , in this cycle.

In the nearly 90-minute, wide-ranging speech in the packed arena at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center (it has a seating capacity of about 19,000), Trump attacked Harris and touted his tax policies. He briefly touched on the evening's theme, saying he will build an economy that works for all Americans, including those of AAPI heritage, and noted that he liked the colors of Nevada's Filipino Americans' clothing.

“(Filipinos) had the nicest clothes,” Trump said. “I said, 'Where the hell are all these people coming from?' And when they told me, that's why I put this little paragraph in there…You are the greatest people, the hardest working, and we will take care of you. You will take care of us! What a great spirit.”

AANHPI voters make up about 11 percent of Nevada's electorate. They are the fastest-growing demographic in Nevada and have traditionally supported Democratic candidates – in 2020, Biden won 64 percent of the Asian American vote to Trump's 35 percent, according to exit polls. But Republicans believe they can make progress, particularly on economic and small business issues. In 2022, Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak won the AANHPI vote, but by only 8 percentage points, according to exit polls.

Democrats, of course, disagree. The Harris campaign has been running AANHPI advocacy campaigns for months, supported by key legislative surrogates like Rep. Erica Mosca (D-Las Vegas), a senior adviser to the campaign. In a statement, Mosca criticized Trump's presidency.

“As president, Donald Trump fueled a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and fueled the fire with extreme rhetoric that put lives in danger and hurt Asian small businesses,” she said.

During the event, Trump repeated the phrase “China virus” and said it was what he called COVID-19, while telling attendees that he considered Chinese President Xi Jinping a friend until the pandemic.

“We were actually very close,” Trump said. “But honestly, COVID — or as I call it, the China virus — was a step too far.”

Studies suggest that Trump's use of phrases like “China virus” in 2020 contributed to the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and xenophobia this year.

The Turning Point event was attended by notable Asian American Trump officials, including former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian American, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), a Samoan American.

“There is a very clear choice in this election,” said Gabbard, a former Democratic presidential candidate. “I am doing everything I can to help elect President Trump because nothing less than our freedom and our future are at stake.”

While the event featured numerous Asian American speakers, many wearing flower leis, advocates did not make culturally specific addresses to AAPI voters or address the evening's theme, other than Gabbard speaking in several Asian languages Hello said and Trump suggested he could wear colorful Filipino clothing in the Oval Office.

He briefly mentioned some Nevada-specific policy ideas, including opening more federal land to housing, and praised Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo's leadership on the issue. He also proposed designating areas for large-scale housing construction where regulation and taxes are low. And he paid tribute to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown, who he said “gave up more to run for the U.S. Senate than any other man in the history of the upper house,” likely alluding to the fact that he gave up more during his term Almost died of burns during military service.

Nevada is clearly one of the states whose votes could determine the winner of the presidential election and control of the Senate. So far, Republicans have a clear lead over Democrats in early voting — a fact that Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk denounced at the rally.

Here are The Nevada Independents Key findings:

1. Trump is thrilled with the early voting results

With Republicans holding a lead in voter turnout in Nevada about a week into the early voting period, he mentioned several times how well he did – although he added that his aides warned him not to take note of it so he could Don't push voter turnout.

“I shouldn’t say it, but we have a big lead,” he said.

He and other speakers encouraged attendees to vote early. Trump gave a long monologue about a woman who dragged her husband off the couch to vote for him.

“Get your man,” Trump said. “'Hank, get the fuck up off the couch, get up, get your big fat ass, we're going to vote for president. “We’re going to turn our country around, Hank.”

Six days into early voting, registered Republicans in Nevada have a 4 percentage point lead over Democrats with returned ballots – a reversal of typical trends that typically see Democrats build a firewall.

He also repeatedly referenced the conspiracy that Democrats stole the 2020 election – which was categorically refuted. He urged attendees to vote for him so overwhelmingly that “they won’t think so much about cheating.”

2. Trump promises further tax cuts

Throughout the night, Trump reiterated his promise to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security – the former of which he first proposed in June in Las Vegas.

He attacked Harris for promising to repeal portions of his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which cut corporate taxes and much of which is set to expire in 2025. Currently, many of the personal and business deductions are set to expire in 2025, while the Republican-passed corporate tax rate cut is permanent unless changed again by Congress. He played several clips in which Harris attacks the 2017 tax law and promises to increase the corporate tax rate, as well as her proposal to tax unrealized capital gains.

Harris has also announced that she will eliminate taxes on tips and has promised, among other things, to expand the child tax credit and create a tax credit for first-time home buyers.

He also said that “tariff” was the most beautiful word in the English language, before correcting himself and saying that “love” and “religion” were better.

Trump has promised a flat 20 percent tariff and a 100 percent tariff for countries that turn away from the U.S. dollar.

3. Trump says the environment “will be fine” if he’s elected

The former president also brought up an issue that has received less attention this election cycle: the environment.

As usual, Trump railed against Democrats' embrace of electric vehicles. He said that while he is not ideologically opposed to them – especially given that Tesla founder Elon Musk is a supporter and has campaigned with him – he also wants gasoline-powered and hybrid cars.

Although the Biden administration has not proposed a ban on gas-powered vehicles, Trump frequently says Democrats have. Biden-era rules set higher fuel economy targets for vehicles, and Trump has pledged to roll them back.

He also noted a break with former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who teamed with Trump on the campaign trail after leaving the race. Trump said that while he liked Kennedy's views on health care – Kennedy often repeats misinformation about vaccines – he disagreed with his environmentalism.

“I don’t know if I can get him to get too concerned with the environment,” Trump said of Kennedy, an environmental lawyer. “I'm a little worried about Bobby. I don’t know if I want him messing around with the liquid gold beneath our feet.”

He also criticized Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and progressive Democrats' endorsement of the Green New Deal, rejecting their 2019 proposal that the world would have 12 years to reverse the effects of global warming before the planet would be permanently destroyed.

“Don’t worry about the environment,” he said. “Everything will be fine.”

He reiterated his promises to increase American oil and gas drilling and cut energy costs by 50 percent within a year.

4. immigration

Trump made his usual reticence on immigration, promising to launch a mass deportation campaign and impose the death penalty on immigrants who kill U.S. citizens or law enforcement officers.

But he added a new element to his short speech: He promised, if elected, to enact the little-known Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which gives the president the authority to relocate, detain or deport immigrants during wartime.

“We are an occupied country,” Trump said.

Despite the former president's promise, recent polls suggest that a bipartisan majority of Nevadans support expanding legal pathways rather than mass deportation as a solution to illegal immigration.