In bid to win over Nevada's service industry workers, Trump at Vegas rally vows tax-free tips

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump told a rally Sunday in Las Vegas that he would work to make tips tax-free, an apparent appeal to workers in the city's huge service industry.

The temperature at the event in the city's Sunset Park was at about 100 degrees at noon when he took the stage.

The Trump campaign, in anticipation of the heat, supplied the rally with free bottled water, tents with air conditioning and shade, misting and cooling stations and additional medical staff. 

In his hour-long speech, Trump did not endorse a GOP candidate in the state's Senate race, the outcome of which will be key in whether Democrats or Republicans control the upper chamber after the November elections.

He praised GOP candidate Sam Brown, calling him a “good man,” but declined to offer a full-throated endorsement ahead of Tuesday’s primary. 

Brown is running in the Republican contest to take on incumbent Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen this fall. 

The teleprompter went out, leaving Trump to freestyle, which appeared to give him the opportunity to needle President Joe Biden about some of his gaffes using a teleprompter. He pretended to be a doddering old man wandering around the stage, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. 

He also said he would not pay the teleprompter company and that the media would take his comment out of context to criticize him for not paying people.

“I don’t pay contractors who do s&*% work," he said.

Democrat Hillary Clinton won the swing state of Nevada in 2016, and President Joe Biden won it in 2020. Trump hopes to win Nevada this November, and his chances appear strong, considering he leads Biden by 5 percentage points on average in the state, according to FiveThirtyEight.

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