Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is set to hold an outdoor rally in sweltering Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, despite the heat wave warning and excessive heat forecast for the area. The rally is part of Trump’s efforts to shore up support in a swing state he has lost twice in the past, but recent polls suggest is leaning in his favor going into the November 5th election.
Since a New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to a porn star on the eve of the 2016 election, he has been facing intense scrutiny and criticism. The guilty verdict makes him the first former US president to be convicted of a crime. Despite this, Trump has continued to campaign, claiming that the Democratic opposition is responsible for issues such as illegal immigration and post-pandemic inflation.
Immigration will be a key focus of Trump’s Las Vegas speech, as well as criticism of the surge in inflation under President Joe Biden’s term, according to a campaign statement. Trump has been blaming Biden for the issues at the southern border, which has been a contentious topic in the election campaign.
The weather forecast is expected to be particularly severe, with temperatures reaching 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius) when Trump takes the stage at noon local time and climbing to 102 degrees by 3pm, according to the National Weather Service. The Trump campaign has taken measures to ensure attendees’ safety, including encouraging them to dress for the heat and stay hydrated, as well as providing water bottles, misting and cooling stations, and medical staff on site.
Donald Trump (Via Donald Trump/Twitter)
The rally is part of Trump’s efforts to shore up support in Nevada, a crucial swing state that could determine the outcome of the election. A Fox News survey conducted after the guilty verdict showed Trump ahead of Biden in Nevada by five percentage points, an advantage roughly in line with an average of polls over time compiled by the poll tracking website FiveThirtyEight.
However, not all experts are convinced that polls are accurately capturing the mood of voters. Rebecca Gill, a political science professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said she was skeptical that polls were fully capturing where voters would be in a few months, given that many are not yet paying attention to the race. She also expressed concerns that Trump’s criminal conviction may deter some moderate Republicans from backing him, and that a proposed amendment to enshrine access to abortion in the state constitution would likely boost Democratic turnout.
Despite these challenges, Trump’s campaign is pressing on, with a three-day fundraising push that took him to San Francisco and Beverly Hills, where he raised millions of dollars from technology executives and other donors. Sunday’s rally marks the culmination of these efforts, and will likely be a key test of Trump’s ability to connect with voters and maintain his momentum in the final stretch of the campaign.
