Our live coverage of President Trump’s Las Vegas rally has concluded. See CNN Politics for more.
Early in President Donald Trump’s speech at a rally in Las Vegas on Thursday night, he told the crowd he was glad to be in Nevada – and then stopped to emphasize the Ne-VA-da pronunciation, pointing out that you “have to say that name just right.”
Toward the end of his speech, though, he made exactly the faux pas he’d lectured the crowd about avoiding – calling the state Ne-vah-da.
It came when he said the state’s Republican senator, Dean Heller, would eventually come to him and say, “Mr. President, stop winning so much. The people of Nevada can’t take it any longer.”
Trump did the exact same thing in a June trip to Nevada. Early in that speech, he alleged that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren doesn’t “know how to say Nevada.” Then, later in his own speech, he mispronounced the state’s name himself.
President Trump briefly mentioned former President Obama’s return to the trail, saying it was a good thing for Republicans.
“He’s campaigning again. That’s good news,” Trump said.
“Because if that doesn’t spur you on to work…”
Trump toured the number of manufacturing jobs his administration claims to have created, arguing Obama had said manufacturing couldn’t be brought be back in the U.S.
The President of the United States, as the crowd at the Las Vegas rally chanted “lock her up,” asked “how is our Justice Department doing?”
The crowd booed, as the President smiled.
President Trump, as the crowd chanted “Kavanaugh”, told the Las Vegas rally the Supreme Court nominee is one of the finest human beings you will ever have the privilege of knowing or meeting.”
Trump said, “We gotta let it play out but he is a fine, fine person”.
He added, “Brett Kavanaugh, and I am not saying anything about anyone else, but I am saying that Brent Kavanaugh is one of the finest one of the finest human beings you will ever have the privilege of knowing or meeting”.
Protesters briefly yelled during the remarks.
President Donald Trump talked about the thaw in his once-icy relationship with Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller on Thursday night.
“We weren’t friends. I didn’t like him and he didn’t like me,” Trump said at his Las Vegas rally of their initial relationship. “And as we fought and fought and fought, believe it or not, we started to respect each other, then we started to like each other, then we started to love each other.”
The relationship between Trump and Heller started cold: Heller was a Trump critic during the 2016 campaign. Then, Heller famously tanked an early version of the GOP’s Obamacare repeal, announcing his opposition at a news conference alongside popular Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval. But, GOP sources said, the two began warming to each other when Heller rode with Trump on Air Force One to Las Vegas following the mass shooting there last fall. Then Heller was a leading advocate for Trump’s tax bill.
“He’s always been there. We can count on his vote,” Trump said of him Thursday night.
Then he brought him out on stage.
President Trump has taken the stage in Las Vegas. You can watch the rally live in the player above, or in a new tab right here.
President Trump was seen being interviewed by Fox News host Sean Hannity while supporters at his Las Vegas rally looked on.
In the interview, which was broadcast live, Trump questioned why the woman who has accused his Supreme Court pick of sexual assault didn’t call the police 36 years ago, when she says the incident happened.
“I think is a sad situation, he is an outstanding person,” Trump said of Brett Kavanaugh’s suddenly chaotic nomination fight.
“Frankly, Sean, to see what is going on is very, very sad. Why didn’t somebody call the FBI 36 years ago? You could also say when did this all happen, what is going on? To take a man like this – with that being said, let her have her say and let’s see how it all works out.”
Professor Christine Blasey Ford has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party outside Washington, D.C. when they were in high school. He denies it happened.
President Trump is rallying in Las Vegas tonight. Here are some topics he might bring up:
President Trump is hosting a Make America Great Again rally in Las Vegas tonight.
The rally comes as President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces sexual assault allegations that have complicated what was once expected to be a smooth confirmation process for the judge.
