by Dana Gentry, Nevada Current

Former Pres. Donald Trump veered from one topic to another, reeling off a litany of familiar grievances during a rambling and hyperbolic speech Thursday afternoon in Henderson.

Trump unloaded on Vice Pres. Kamala Harris’ economic chops, immigration policy, credibility, intellect, and mental fitness for office.    

“If she can’t handle the press conferences or the television interviews, and she can’t, then you can’t handle the presidency,” he said of Harris. “She’ll get overwhelmed, melt down, and millions of people will die.”

Trump announced he filed a lawsuit Thursday against CBS News for editing one of Harris’ responses during an interview on 60 Minutes. 

“I think CBS should lose its license, but I think ABC should lose its license, too,” Trump said during the rally at the Lee Family Forum in Henderson. 

Networks are not licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, however, each network owns and operates a number of local stations in large markets that are licensed by the government. 

Trump made no mention of the misfires that have plagued his campaign in the final week leading up to Election Day. 

With the presidential race polling in a dead heat in battleground states, and navigating a gender gap among voters of his own making, Trump did not repeat his proclamation a day earlier that he’s the self-appointed protector of women “whether the women like it or not.” 

The statement drew widespread outrage, including from Harris, who called Trump’s words “very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies.”

Of the nearly 60 million ballots cast thus far in America, 55% are from women and 45% from  men, according to an analysis by Politico. 

The former president attempted to woo minority voters, but failed to denounce a comedian’s racist utterings, which took aim at Puerto Ricans, Blacks, Jews, and others during Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally Sunday, 

“We’re welcoming historic numbers of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans and Arab Americans.” Trump said Thursday. “And right here in Nevada, we’re going to win a record share of the Hispanic American vote at a level that nobody’s ever seen before.”

He also repeated his promise to initiate mass deportations of undocumented immigrants “on day one.” 

Nevada is home to some 168,000 undocumented immigrants, according to 2019 data analyzed by the Migration Policy Institute. Census data indicates more than a quarter of unauthorized immigrants in Nevada  have been in the U.S. for more than 20 years, and a majority for more than a decade. About a third are homeowners. 

Undocumented workers make up about 5% of America’s workforce. 

Trump’s remarks, which stretched over more than 90 minutes, often darted from topic to topic in free-form fashion. He went from warning that foreign corporations who do business in the U.S. have no loyalty to the U.S., to questioning the legitimacy of “Crazy Nancy” Pelosi’s wealth, to recounting memories of his father putting $100 into tin cups of beggars. He said he would win California if the votes were counted fairly. He ladled admiration on Elon Musk, a megadonor to Trump’s reelection bid, praising his rockets and telling the crowd “in terms of computer Elon is the best.” And he provided the audience with a brief history of his post-presidential social media presence.

Gov. Joe Lombardo, who once said Trump was a “sound president” albeit not a “great” one, ended a long string of absences from Trump campaign rallies by making a brief appearance Thursday, and was then publicly excused from the event by the candidate. 

“Can he go and do some business so that we can win and he can take care of some young people that are incredible,” Trump said while Lombardo walked out as Trump began his remarks. 

“With your help, we’re going to win Nevada,” Trump told the crowd. He noted Republicans are leading Democrats in early voting “for the first time ever,” and thanked the state’s Republican Party chairman Michael McDonald, one of Trump’s 2020 fake electors in Nevada. 

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: [email protected]. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X.