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LAS VEGAS – Former President Trump riled up a fiery crowd of supporters in a key swing state on Sunday, his first rally since his conviction in a New York court on what he and his supporters have described as “sham” charges.
Thousands of Nevadans piled into Sunset Park, just miles from the Las Vegas Strip, to hear the former president, who spared no time in blasting the “Biden crime family” and his conviction, which he called “bulls–t.”
“We’re going to knock off the Biden crime family. It’s a Biden family of crime, including the fact that they’ve weaponized the Department of Justice like has never happened in this country,” Trump said. “We’re going to end the weak and failed regime of crooked Joe Biden, the worst president in the history of our country, and we’re going to make America great again.”
Thousands of Trump supporters attend a rally in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)
Trump also spent significant time early on in his speech slamming President Biden’s handling of the southern border, a particularly important issue for voters in the state.
“Under Biden, the invasion is just a disaster. … In four years, crooked Joe has imported more people than at any other time in our history,” Trump said. “They’re changing the fabric of our country. They’re destroying our country.”
Trump later targeted Biden’s age, mental fitness and frequent vacations to the beaches of Delaware, saying, “This guy goes to the beach all the time. Somebody thinks he looks good in a bathing suit. I don’t know.”
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Former President Trump points to the teleprompter and says it’s not working as he speaks during a campaign rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
“He’s not old, he’s incompetent,” he added, stating he took a “second” cognitive test and that he “aced” them both.
“Biden should have a cognitive test, and before the debate in two weeks he should take a drug test,” Trump said.
Trump notably made no endorsement in the ongoing Republican primary for U.S. Senate, but he did offer praise for former Army Captain Sam Brown, who has been largely viewed as the front-runner in the race.
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Former President Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump’s rally comes just days after a new Fox News poll found the former president leading Biden by five points (50%-45%) in a head-to-head matchup.
That lead holds steady (45%-40%) with the inclusion of independent presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (7%) and Dr. Cornel West (2%) as well as Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein (2%).
Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in a New York City court on May 30, but that appears to have had little effect on his level of support.
The former president was tied with Biden in Democrat-leaning Virginia, another Fox News poll found. Virginia hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since former President George W. Bush won there in 2004.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on X at @BGillespieAL.
