Bernie Sanders calls on people to vote in Las Vegas campaign stop
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders swung through Reno and Las Vegas on Thursday to stump for Senate candidate Jacky Rosen and other Nevada Democrats, firing up thousands of loyal supporters before urging them to vote.
”We need your help here in Nevada to transform the economic and political life of our country,” Sanders said during his evening stop at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts.
Hundreds of excited attendees at the Las Vegas rally chanted “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!” Organizers handed out “Bernie 2020” stickers. People clapped as “Power to the People” blared from the speakers.
The Las Vegas crowd interrupted Sanders several times by shouting “Medicare for All!” as he delivered a fiery 30-minute speech that touched on wage inequality, removing money from politics, protecting immigrants and the environment, and his signature issue, universal health care — which he said 70 percent of Americans support.
Sanders said the country’s future hinges on Rosen, a first-term House Democrat, defeating Republican Sen. Dean Heller.
“What I beg of you is not only get out and vote for Jacky Rosen, bring your uncles and your aunts and your friends and your co-workers,” Sanders said. “This is going to be a close election. And it is absolutely imperative not only for Nevada, but for the future of this country, that Jacky get elected.”
The senator, a Vermont independent, repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump, calling him a “pathological liar” and denouncing his “bigoted attacks ” on immigrants.
“What this president is doing no president in my lifetime has ever done,” Sanders said. “And that is for cheap political gain he is trying to divide us up. To have one group hate another group.”
Las Vegan Matt Dangerfield, 47, voted for Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary and said he would support him if he ran in 2020.
“It seems like he’s the only guy who cares about affordable health care,” said Dangerfield, who works on the Strip and was forced to cancel his $265-a-month health plan when costs rose. “It seems like billionaires are getting richer and richer, and there’s no money for health care. But there’s money for war.”
“The biggest mistake America made was not electing him,” said Trudy Ezell, 71, a Washington resident who came to Las Vegas to see Sanders. “He cares about all people — not just the rich. And he’s really honest.”
Sanders’ tour through the Silver State was part of a cross-county nine-state swing he is making on behalf of Democratic candidates ahead of the Nov. 6 election. Earlier in the day, Sanders urged a mostly student crowd of about 1,000 people at the University of Nevada, Reno to go to the polls.
Rosen spoke before Sanders and introduced him. She attacked Heller for his vote with other Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act after saying he would not.
“You know what time it is folks? It’s time to repeal and replace Dean Heller,” Rosen said.
Sanders heads to California on Friday for stops in Oceanside and Berkeley. He earlier stumped for Democrats in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and South Carolina.
Contact Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @Dentzernews on Twitter. Contact Ramona Giwargis at rgiwargis@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4538. Follow @RamonaGiwargison Twitter.
