Former President Donald Trump on Sunday held his first campaign rally since his historic conviction at his New York hush money trial last month.
According to The Associated Press, Trump's campaign hired additional medics and stocked up on fans and water bottles for the outdoor rally in Las Vegas. Several thousand Trump supporters were lined up and entering the venue at Sunset Park. Despite the heat, a breeze and misting stations were provided to alleviate the discomfort. However, at least three supporters had already been taken away on stretchers.
They also permitted supporters to bring umbrellas to shield themselves from the scorching temperatures, which are forecasted to surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius).
The new precautions being taken come after 12 people were transported to the hospital from Trump's campaign event in Phoenix due to heat-related illness, a spokeswoman for the Phoenix Fire Department told CNN.
Las Vegas residents have been contending with exceptionally high temperatures for days as a heatwave sweeps across the U.S. Southwest. However, the National Weather Service lifted its excessive heat warning for the area on Saturday evening prior to the event.
Nevada is one of the six or seven swing states that are expected to play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the election. According to a Fox News survey conducted after the guilty verdict, Trump was leading Biden in Nevada by five percentage points, a margin that aligns closely with the average of polls over time compiled by the poll tracking website FiveThirtyEight.
In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton won Nevada, as did President Joe Biden in 2020. However, Nevada was the only battleground state where Trump performed better against Biden than he did against Clinton. Additionally, in the 2022 midterms, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, was the only incumbent governor who failed to secure re-election.
Sunday's rally is Trump's first large-scale rally since a New York jury found him guilty on May 30 of falsifying documents to conceal a payment to a porn star just before the 2016 election. This makes him the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime.
