CNN
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President Donald Trump proposed eliminating the tip tax at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, hoping to garner voters in key battleground states with large numbers of service industry workers.
The proposal, made at the Republican front-runner’s first campaign rally since his historic conviction in New York last month in a hush-money trial, was quickly denounced by the state’s powerful chefs union as an “absurd campaign promise from a convicted felon.”
The former president’s visit to Las Vegas came after a flurry of stops that included a big-ticket fundraiser in California and a campaign rally in Arizona. On Saturday night, he attended a Las Vegas fundraiser hosted by his longtime ally, construction equipment magnate Don Ahearn.
Trump campaign co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita said Sunday that the campaign and the Republican National Committee raised a combined $27.5 million at four recent fundraisers Trump attended in California and Nevada.
Trump’s Western trip comes at a critical juncture as his campaign seeks to translate his claims into a general election message following a seven-week criminal trial in which he was convicted of 34 felony counts related to making hush money payments to porn actresses before the 2016 election.
During the Las Vegas visit, the Trump campaign also launched a new “Latinos for Trump” coalition to step up outreach to Hispanic voters ahead of the November election. The decision to launch the new program in Nevada was no coincidence.
Recent polls have shown a notable uptick in support for Trump among Hispanic voters, who have traditionally voted Democratic. In states like Nevada, where Hispanic voters make up a sizable portion of the electorate, winning over some of them could help Trump win key battleground states and ultimately the White House. Nevada has supported Democratic candidates in four consecutive presidential elections, but Joe Biden won the 2020 election by just two points.
“Some people think Nevada might have a better chance. [this cycle] “Even more than Georgia,” a source close to Trump told CNN ahead of the rally.
Trump campaign sources pointed specifically to the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for the optimistic outlook, with Nevada hit especially hard by the pandemic due to its reliance on tourism and hospitality.
A senior adviser said ahead of the event that the plan also includes trying to work with Nevada’s culinary arts union, which has traditionally worked closely with Democrats, as part of a larger get-out-the-vote effort engineered by the late Nevada Sen. Harry Reid. The union last month rescinded its support for several Democratic state lawmakers who voted to roll back pandemic cleaning requirements imposed on the casino industry.
John Rocker/AP
Attendees cheer during a campaign rally for President Donald Trump in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024.
“If I’m president, I’m not going to tax tips,” Trump said at the rally, “and that’s the first thing I’ll do as soon as I take office, because this has been an issue for years and years and you provide a great service, which is taking care of people.”
Culinary Arts Union Local 226 on Sunday spoke out against Trump’s pledge, which would require Congressional approval. “The Culinary Arts Union has fought for tipped worker rights and against unfair taxation for decades,” Treasurer Ted Papageorgi said in a statement. “Relief for tipped workers is certainly necessary, but Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and the wild campaign promises of a convicted felon.”
As he did last week at a rally in Phoenix organized by the conservative group Turning Point Action, Trump on Sunday blasted his conviction and boasted that it has been a fundraising boon for his campaign.
In a series of interviews over the past week, President Trump has refused to back down from threats of retaliatory action against his political opponents if he wins the presidential election.
“Revenge does take time, I’ll admit that,” Trump said in an interview with psychologist Phil McGraw, aka Dr. Phil, “and sometimes revenge is justified. And let me be honest with you, Phil, you know, sometimes it is justified.”
While Trump continued to call those jailed for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, “warriors” and falsely claim that the rioters were invited into the Capitol by police, he also focused Sunday on immigration, which the Trump campaign sees as Biden’s biggest weakness ahead of the November presidential election.
In an attempt to address this vulnerability, Biden announced an executive order last week that gives him the power to effectively close the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers who enter illegally if the number of daily crossings exceeds a certain threshold. In his Phoenix speech, Trump repeatedly criticized Biden over the move, calling it “bullshit” and vowing to roll back the new asylum restrictions if re-elected.
In addition to the highly anticipated presidential election, Nevada will also host a Senate race in which Democratic incumbent Jacky Rosen is seeking a second term, making it one of the most fiercely contested elections in the country.
Trump, who is facing pressure to endorse Sam Brown, a retired Army captain who was severely burned by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, has yet to endorse him in the state’s increasingly ugly Republican Senate primary.
“We have a fine man here, Brown. A fine man,” Trump said while attacking Sen. Sherrod Brown, R-Ohio, at a rally in Las Vegas.
Even Trump’s advisers were uncertain whether he would ultimately endorse a candidate, but despite a brief tribute from Sam Brown, who was handing out water at the rally, Trump did not announce an endorsement in Tuesday’s primary.
When asked by CNN if he expected a vote of support, Brown replied, “I’m just focused on getting through Tuesday. President Trump has a lot on his plate. I know once Tuesday gets over, we’ll all be focused on November 5th.”
In April, Trump posted on social media that Brown and the former president were “clear choices for Nevada Republican voters and donors.” But Trump supporters have accused Brown of having ties to mainstream Republicans. Brown was personally encouraged to run by Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, who is the Senate Republican campaign manager. Instead, they urged the former president to support Jeff Gunter, Trump’s former ambassador to Iceland.
Ahern, who hosted the event at his luxury boutique hotel, endorsed Brown, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the state’s other Senate seat in 2022. But Ahern is backing Gunter in this election and is urging Trump to do the same.
The Trump campaign has frequently held outdoor rallies in recent months, but was bracing for extreme heat on Sunday, with temperatures expected to reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
In preparation, the Trump campaign has doubled the number of emergency medical staff at the rally, added new misting fans and significantly increased the amount of water available to attendees, according to a Trump campaign official.
The campaign will provide more than 38,000 bottles of water, 20 Power Breather mist fans, at least one air-conditioned cooling tent and pop-up umbrella tents throughout the venue at Sunset Park in Las Vegas, officials said. Metal detectors will also be added to reduce security wait times.
A Phoenix Fire Department spokesperson told CNN the new precautions come after 12 people were taken to hospital with heatstroke at a Trump campaign event in Phoenix.
This story and headline have been updated to reflect Trump’s remarks.
