In Las Vegas, Trump Turns His Focus Again to Biden

Former President Donald J. Trump, who has been itching for months to give attention to a probable matchup between him and President Biden in November, previewed on Saturday a probable general-election message, extensively attacking Mr. Biden at an occasion in Nevada, a important battleground state.

Additional proof of Nevada’s significance could possibly be seen a mile away, the place Vice President Kamala Harris solid the combat towards Mr. Trump, ought to he wrap up the nomination, as a battle for democracy.

Although Mr. Trump was ostensibly visiting Las Vegas to encourage his supporters to end up for the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 8, he devoted a lot of his speech to Mr. Biden’s dealing with of the surge of crossings on the southern border, which he referred to as “a weapon of mass destruction” internally destroying the USA.

And Mr. Trump, who presently faces 4 felony circumstances that he casts — with out proof — as makes an attempt by Mr. Biden to wrest the election from him, wielded the language of the justice system to swimsuit his functions.

“What Joe Biden doing is a crime against our nation,” Mr. Trump mentioned. He later added: “With your vote, he will be judged and convicted by the American people for this atrocity that he’s done.”

Saturday’s speech was in some ways a return to type after a month through which Mr. Trump had escalated his assaults towards his rivals within the Republican presidential main as he scored decisive wins in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Mr. Trump now appears to be marching towards the final election, however he isn’t but the celebration’s nominee, and his lone remaining rival for the nomination, Nikki Haley, is doing everything she can to remind him that she stays within the race.

Mr. Trump’s supporters on Saturday mentioned they’d largely moved previous the Republican contest, although Ms. Haley remains to be working. “It’s like the Kenny Rogers song — you need to know when to fold ’em,” Joe Sandoval, 74, mentioned. “I don’t think she’s even a concern for him at this point.”

Mr. Trump and his workforce are getting ready to combat Ms. Haley in her house state of South Carolina, the location of their subsequent electoral battle, on Feb. 24. The previous president took glancing swipes at her on Saturday, principally accusing her of betraying Republican beliefs and her conservative roots.

“Nikki Haley made a corrupt deal to sell out to the radical left, taking the Democrat money from donors,” Mr. Trump mentioned.

However Mr. Trump’s victory in Nevada’s caucuses is a foregone conclusion. Ms. Haley is on the poll for a presidential main on Feb. 6 that won’t rely towards the G.O.P. nomination, so she is skipping the state solely. The caucuses — which can decide who will get the state’s delegate prize — function Mr. Trump with out a single main competitor.

“Nevada will certainly be a good messaging opportunity for Trump, because he’s going to win all the delegates here, and he will win unopposed,” mentioned Jeremy Gelman, an affiliate professor of political science on the College of Nevada, Reno. “He will be able to say he swept Nevada.”

Nonetheless, these attending Mr. Trump’s speech in Las Vegas, held at Large League Goals, a sports activities park, admitted to some confusion over the dueling contests, a problem Mr. Trump addressed.

“Don’t worry about the primary, just do the caucus,” Mr. Trump instructed his supporters.

Later, he delivered a extra combined message. “Don’t waste your time on primary,” he mentioned. “Waste all of your time on caucus.”

His phrasing, inadvertent or not, displays the view of the first that Mr. Trump, lengthy the front-runner, has had for months: that it’s a distraction delaying him from taking over Mr. Biden.

On Saturday, Mr. Trump attacked a Biden-backed bipartisan immigration deal, saying it was “not designed to stop illegal immigration.” Mr. Trump has been urgent Republican senators to oppose a deal, and he instructed them in his speech to “blame me” if it failed.

He additionally signaled his intent to courtroom Hispanic voters, a key constituency in Nevada, and an essential a part of the Democratic coalition. Polls have proven Mr. Trump gaining their assist.

Mr. Trump charged that Mr. Biden had “devastated the Latino community” economically, and mentioned Hispanics had been “better off” financially underneath his administration.

He additionally instructed that Black and Latino voters had been the “single most affected people by what’s happening at our border,” but provided no specifics.

In a statement, a spokesman for Mr. Biden’s re-election campaign, Ammar Moussa, said, “Donald Trump demonstrated tonight he’s campaigning against solutions for the American people, and is actively rooting against America,” including that Mr. Biden was “the only candidate focused on governing and addressing the issues the American people demand action on.”

Both parties are looking to November: Outside Mr. Trump’s event, the Democratic National Committee flew a plane overhead with a banner reading “Donald Trump: Ban Abortion, Punish Women.” The party is expected to make abortion a central issue in November.

A mile away, Vice President Harris’s event felt like an alternative universe, with some voters wearing masks and voicing support for gun control while an Olivia Rodrigo song played and a local dance team performed.

Ms. Harris riled up the crowd with a list of the administration’s accomplishments and suggested that they contrasted with Mr. Trump’s priorities.

“In his comments today, as always, he made clear his fight is not for the people. His fight is for himself,” she said, as hundreds booed.

“Freedom is on the ballot, and our democracy is on the ballot,” Ms. Harris said. “This is about standing for the kind of country we want to live in.”

Sara Diss, 74, said she would be voting to re-elect Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris. “I want somebody that is going to protect democracy,” she said. “Trump, he’s out to get revenge.”

Still, even at an event aimed at generating excitement among the Democratic faithful, some voters acknowledged harboring doubts.

Daphne Silva, 25, said she had always voted for Democrats, including for Mr. Biden in 2020, and planned to vote for him again in November.

But, she added, “I’m a little bit hesitant based on the stuff he’s doing around the war.” She said she wished that he would be more critical of sending aid to Israel and that Democrats had fielded a larger roster of candidates for voters to choose from.

“I wish there were more options,” Ms. Silva said, “but I think it’s too late.”