Trump denies the polls, tells Las Vegas crowd: 'We're ahead by a big margin' • Nevada Current

With votes still to be tallied, former President Donald Trump already declared he had a sizable lead in Nevada and claimed he was in states that are “never normally in play,” including New Hampshire, during a campaign stop in Southern Nevada was ahead on Thursday evening.

A day after his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, Trump spoke at the UNLV Thomas & Mack Center campaigned in the state.

Numerous polls suggest that the difference in support between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in Nevada and all other battleground states is well within the margin of error – the race is tied.

But on Thursday in Las Vegas, Trump said, “We have a big lead in Nevada,” in addition to all the other battleground states.

He also claimed that “all other states, big states, are in play” and vowed to win solid blue Colorado after the state tried to exclude him from the primary. The United States Supreme Court overturned the decision.

Polls in Colorado last month showed Harris leading Trump by 10 to 17 percentage points.

Trump has previously denigrated early voting and made false claims that mail-in ballots would lead to voter fraud. But on Thursday, he encouraged the crowd to vote early to ensure they not only win but also get a significant turnout.

“If we're way ahead, they're not going to think about fraud as much,” Trump said, relying on unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud. “We must make these elections honorable and honest, and we will do that.”

Trump, who won the presidency in 2016 despite losing the popular vote, also falsely claimed he had gained more support this cycle and received “millions and millions of votes” that were not counted.

Despite countless investigations and dozens of lawsuits, no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election has been found.

Trump spreads anti-immigrant rhetoric at a rally in Las Vegas

Much of Thursday's speech repeated the same proposals Trump has talked about in recent months, including eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security. The Trump campaign has offered few details about the scope of those proposals, how they will be implemented or how they will be paid for, other than to suggest that the massive tariffs he wants to impose on foreign imports will produce huge profits for the federal government.

Several independent analysts and economists have warned that Trump's proposed tariffs would reignite inflation and send prices soaring.

Trump also briefly discussed plans Thursday to open up housing on federal lands to create more housing amid the growing affordable housing crisis. Gov. Joe Lombardo has advocated for the federal government to release more land.

“Your governor is doing a great job,” Trump said. “We thank him very much. Joe Lombardo, he’s doing a very good job.”

Lombardo was not at the rally and has not appeared at any Trump campaign events this year.

Trump also urged his supporters to vote for Sam Brown, an Army veteran running against Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen.

“This man is a hero and he has given up so much,” he said, pointing to Brown in the audience.

Trump then invited not Brown to the stage, but Vivek Ramaswamy, who was running against Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Ramaswamy called the year 2024 “our 1776” and compared Trump to George Washington in an earlier speech at the event.

Most of his nearly 90-minute speech largely repeated the same anti-immigrant rhetoric Trump has displayed during previous campaign visits to Nevada this year, including his most recent Rally in Las Vegas in September. On Thursday, Trump called the United States an “occupied territory” because of undocumented immigrants and reiterated one of his key campaign promises: Mass deportations.

“Immediately after taking my oath of office, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history,” he said. “I will save every city that has been invaded and conquered… We have many cities that have not been infected, but they are afraid that they will be. We will put these vicious and bloodthirsty animals in prison.”

Trump claimed 29,000 people attended Thursday's event at the Thomas & Mack Center, with another 29,000 people outside. However, Turning point actionthe group that organized the event said the crowd was 12,500. During his speech, Trump said his campaign event was closed McDonald's Earlier this week, when Trump donned an apron and pretended to operate the drive-thru for about 20 minutes to serve a few pre-screened people, 29,000 people were also outside.