Former President Donald Trump draws thousands to sunny Sunset Park

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Former President Donald Trump said immigration was out of control under Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, and warned of heightened crime and even world war if Trump loses the 2024 election.

Thousands of people attended the rally at Sunset Park under sunny summer skies, with temperatures registering 93 degrees around noon when Trump took the rally stage. He spoke for about an hour.

WATCH: Former President Donald Trump speaks at Sunset Park

According to the Clark County Fire Department, six people were taken to the hospital with heat-related illness. The Trump campaign had advertised cooling tents, misting fans, and additional emergency medical personnel for the rally. The Secret Service also allowed people to bring umbrellas and water bottles, which usually are prohibited.

The most newsworthy moment came when Trump made an overt plea to Nevada workers who receive tips as part of their jobs.

"So this is the first time I've said this, and for those hotel workers and people that get tips you're going to be very happy," Trump said toward the end of his remarks. "Because when I get to office we are going to not charge taxes on tips, on people making tips."

The crowd cheered the news, but Nevada's largest union expressed skepticism. Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Secretary Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said in a statement on X that the union has long fought for tipped workers' rights against unfair taxation.

"Relief is definitely needed for tip earners, but Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a convicted felon," Pappageorge said in the statement.

Trump's comment was presaged last week, when his campaign's national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said he would push for the support of working people, especially union workers.

Trump spent the bulk of his speech returning to a familiar theme, immigration, referring to a bipartisan border bill that he opposed with a barnyard epithet, one the crowd lustily chanted back.

Trump said millions of people were crossing the border, and that other countries were emptying their prisons and mental institutions to send people to the United States. Trump cited high-profile crimes allegedly committed by immigrants in the country illegally.

"This is the worst border in the history of the world," Trump said.

At one point, Trump read a poem about a near-dead snake rescued by a kind woman, only to have the snake regain its health and bite her. He related the poem to immigration and crime.

Trump also vigorously denied a 2020 report by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic, in which several sources reported that Trump had called American war dead "suckers" and "losers." Biden has repeated the quote many times in his own speeches.

But Trump — who said "nobody loves the military more than me" — said the story was false and was being used by his opponents to harm him politically.

"They know it's phony. They know it's false," he said.

Trump repeated his claim that the 2020 election was stolen, saying Democrats could only win by cheating. There is no evidence to support this claim, however, despite scores of lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign in several states, including Nevada.

Trump lost here in 2020 by 2.39 percentage points, but recent polls have shown him leading Biden in the state. Over the last four months, the Real Clear Politics polling average puts Trump ahead 48.3 percent to 43 percent.

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Throughout the speech, Trump mocked Biden, calling him "corrupt," "very dumb" and "a low IQ person," imitating the president's walk and speaking style. He polled the crowd as to its favored pejorative for the president, "sleepy Joe" versus "crooked Joe." (The crowd preferred the latter.)

Nevada Democrats responded with sharp criticism of Trump's record on taxes.

"Trump’s visit to Nevada only underscores how out of touch he is with Nevada workers who have made clear that they will not stand for four more years of failed promises, of anti-worker schemes, or Trump’s billionaires-first scams," said Daniele Monroe-Moreno, the chairwoman of the Nevada State Democratic Party.

"As president, Trump gifted tax breaks to billionaires on the backs of the middle class and MAGA extremists like [Republican U.S. Senate candidate] Sam Brown seek to make them permanent. Trump blocked policies that would have made housing more affordable and he was one vote away from ripping away health care for hundreds and thousands of Nevadans.

"President Biden and Nevada Democrats are laser-focused on kitchen table issues and never take any vote for granted," the statement adds. "That’s why we’re working every day to grow our coalition and build a winning ground game to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.”

Speaking of Brown, politicos were listening for an endorsement in the Senate contest, which Trump had promised in another interview about three weeks ago. But while Trump mentioned "a man named Brown," whom he called "a good man," he did not make an endorsement in the race during his speech.

At 7 p.m., hpwever, Trump did endorse Brown with a post on Truth Social, calling Brown a "FEARLESS AMERICAN PATRIOT."

Brown released a statement saying he is "honored" to have Trump's endorsement.

"Together, we will work towards delivering a better future for every Nevadan! I look forward to helping President Trump pass the America First agenda in the U.S. Senate after we both win in November," the statement reads in part. "Our message to every American is clear: relief from the Biden-Rosen American Nightmare will soon be here and the hope of the American Dream will be restored!"

Brown is running against Dr. Jeff Gunter, Trump's former ambassador to Iceland, and former Nevada Assemblyman Jim Marchant, who has also promoted claims of stolen elections. Trump mentioned Marchant by name when asked about endorsements, saying he liked "all" the candidates.

The Nevada Democratic Party also released a statement after Trump's endorsement of Brown.

"After doing everything he could to suck up to Donald Trump, Sam Brown finally got the Trump stamp of approval that he was so desperately seeking and has been publicly begging for over the last six months," Monroe-Moreno said. "This endorsement makes clear that Brown will always put partisan politics and his far-right MAGA agenda of banning abortion even in cases of rape or incest, phasing out Social Security and Medicare, and turning Nevada into a nuclear waste dump ahead of doing what's right for Nevada."

The winner of Brown's race would face current Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen. She also released a statement following Brown's endorsement.

Trump also said he would "look strongly" at the "J6 hostages" and "J6 warriors," references to rioters who assaulted Capitol Police officers, broke windows and ransacked the U.S. Capitol, interrupting the process of counting Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has publicly mused about pardoning all of those convicted in the Jan. 6 riot.

Trump claimed that, had he been president, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine. And he hinted darkly at the potential for World War III, only this conflict waged with nuclear weapons rather than the conventional weapons used in the last world war. "We are closer to World War III than ever before," said Trump.

Trump concluded by acknowledging the outsize role Nevada may play in the November election as one of just a handful of swing states.

"Just get out and you vote and I will see you soon," he said. "We're going to spend a lot of time in this state. If we win, if we win Nevada, we win the whole thing. We win the whole thing."

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