Former President Donald Trump held a rally in Reno, Nevada, Friday night, speaking for over an hour, about his “Operation Aurora” plan, poking fun at Vice President Kamala Harris’s recent teleprompter fiasco, and reiterating a new policy targeting illegal immigrants who kill U.S. citizens.
Here are a few of the most notable moments from the rally.
Trump goads Obama on black male voters
Trump appeared to clap back at former President Barack Obama’s rebuke to young black males considering voting for the MAGA leader.
Speaking on his belief that waves of illegal immigration have lowered wages for minorities, Trump said “It’s affecting my numbers with the Hispanic people and my numbers with the black – and especially with the black men, I love black men.”
“I love them!” he continued. “I have gone through the roof with black men.”
“I don’t do quite as well with Black women,” he said. “I must say. I don’t know why.”
2. Trump calls out Colorado’s Polis
While discussing the notorious Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua gang that found its way into Aurora, Colorado, the former president had harsh words for Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO).
Calling him “chicken s**t,” Trump renewed his pledge to conduct “Operation Aurora” to eliminate the gang. If elected, Trump would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target “every illegal migrant criminal network operating on American soil.”
Colorado police have arrested at least nine of ten TdA gang members known to be in the state and elected officials have pushed back on Trump’s claims that the gang has “taken over” Aurora.
3. Trump preaches toughness on illegal immigrant crime
The former president doubled down on his pledge to crack down on crime during the Reno rally as he called for “the death penalty of any illegal immigrant who kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer.”
“We will send elite squads of ICE, border patrol, and federal law enforcement officers to hunt down, arrest, and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left,” he said in a post to Truth Social on Friday that announced the new death penalty policy.
Trump promised an “automatic 10 years in jail with no possibility of parole,” for illegal immigrants who try reentering the country.
The former president also reiterated another policy he announced this week: “a 15% made-in-America corporate tax rate.”
Trump said the policy, which he hopes will “bring jobs and factories and wealth racing back to the United States, will only apply to companies who “manufacture your product in the U.S.”
4. “Thank God I don’t use teleprompters”
The former president scored a few laughs after a sign toppled his teleprompter during the rally.
“Thank God I don’t use teleprompters so much,” he said as he launched an attack on Harris.
Trump: My teleprompter people are doing a great job. Thank god I don’t use teleprompters. A sign fell on top of it pic.twitter.com/PDT67fkr1g
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 12, 2024
He had continued to claim Harris used a teleprompter during her recent Univision interview.
“It was just announced. Did you see the picture? She did a town hall using a teleprompter,” he alleged.
