5 takeaways from Donald Trump’s Halloween rally in Henderson

Former President Donald Trump revved up his supporters to get out and vote Thursday afternoon in the campaign’s final push ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

“This Tuesday is your chance to stand up and declare, ‘We’re not going to take it anymore,’” he told a crowd of nearly 6,000 at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson.

As his supporters heard him speak in Henderson, Vice President Kamala Harris’ supporters began to gather in North Las Vegas for a rally taking place Thursday night.

Both presidential candidates have made multiple stops in Nevada, a critical swing state whose six electoral votes could decide the presidential election. Trump visited last week at Thomas & Mack, and Harris made a stop in Las Vegas earlier this month for a town hall. Both of their vice presidential candidates will visit this weekend.

Trump’s Thursday rally marked his eighth visit to the Silver State this year. He gave what will likely be his final campaign pitch to Nevadans before the Nov. 5 election. He repeated his campaign’s focuses on immigration and the economy, and he took swings at his opponent in the final election push.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the rally and his hour-and-a-half speech.

1. He made immigration the focus.

Trump continued focusing on the issue of immigration, which has been the focal point for the campaign.

He pledged to call for the death penalty for any undocumented immigrant who murders an American, receiving loud chants from the crowd. Trump said he will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which is a wartime authority that allows the president to detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation.

“We’ll put these blood thirsty criminals in jail, and we’ll kick them out of our country,” he said.

He brought up to the stage the family of Nicholas Quets, a Marine veteran who was killed about two weeks ago reportedly by a drug cartel in Mexico. Quets’ father gave a heartfelt speech, and the crowd chanted “Nicholas.” Trump also showed a video about Joceyln Nungaray, a 12-year-old who was killed in June 2024, and two undocumented men were charged.

“They’re unleashing a violent killing spree all over America,” he said. “The United States is now an occupied country.”

As of 2023, there were over 45.3 million foreign-born people in the U.S., according to the census. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 17,048 noncitizens were arrested in 2024, which accounts for 0.03 percent of total immigrants.

His speech extended beyond undocumented immigration and toward migrants in general. He said migrants have taken over schools and hospitals, though he clarified that he supports legal migration and wants to make it easier for people to enter the country legally.

2. Trump made his campaign pitch.

Besides his usual emphasis on the issue of immigration, Trump gave a familiar speech to his previous rallies.

He began by asking the same question he asked previously: “Are you better now than you were four years ago?” and received “no”s from the crowd.

The former president outlined his plans to ban taxes on tips, Social Security and overtime pay, and he said he will support a tax credit for family caregivers. He pledged he’ll fix the economy and make the country safer and stronger.

He also repeated his “drill, baby, drill” slogan on expanding the country’s oil production and promised to strengthen the military. Trump pledged to keep “transgender insanity” down and will restore free speech.

On multiple occasions, he criticized the media and accused them of lying, receiving cheers and boos from the crowd.

“We will rebuild our cities, including our capital in Washington D.C and make them safe, clean and beautiful again,” Trump said.

He wrapped up his speech the usual way with his campaign slogan.

“We will make America great again,” he concluded.

3. He took swings at his Democratic opponent.

Trump took aim at his opponent. He asked why she never did any of the changes as she proposes during her time as vice president.

“She forgets she’s been there for almost four years,” he said.

Trump called her a “radical left Marxist” and repeated his claims that Harris never worked at McDonald’s. He criticized Harris’ U.S. capital rally, playing a video showing how many times she talked about him.

“You know why they do this? Because we’re winning,” he said.

Trump said Harris cannot handle the presidency and will “get overwhelmed and melt down.”

He alleged the jobs created under the Biden-Harris administration were fake.

“These people are fraudulent,” he said.

4. Nevada Republicans encourage voting red down the ballot

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo took the stage ahead of the former president — marking his first time speaking at a Trump rally this election cycle — and encouraged supporters to vote Republican up and down the ballot, especially in state legislative races. Lombardo has been active in trying to prevent a Democratic supermajority in both houses that would render his veto power moot.

“That’s why it’s really important for you to be down there and when you vote for Trump look down all the way to the bottom of the ballot, make sure you vote for every one of those individuals on there,” he said.

Trump gave Lombardo a shout-out once he took the stage, thanking him.

Nevada’s GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown also spoke ahead of the former president’s speech. He told the Review-Journal he is feeling good about the election and that he has momentum.

“We’ve seen a lot of new voters coming in and registering,” Brown said. “The excitement, you can feel it. We’ve even see the polling reflect some tightening in this race.”

Brown encouraged people to get out and vote and said he is planning on voting on Election Day. When asked how he is voting on Nevada’s ballot questions — which include voter ID and enshrining abortion rights into the constitution, he declined to answer.

5. Attendees got into the spirit, talked about issues impacting them.

Some attendees dressed festively, either in Halloween costumes or a fluorescent vest in reference to the garbage comment from President Joe Biden. Many wore MAGA hats and other Trump campaign gear, like a golden Trump head smoking a cigar attached to a fake gold chain.

Las Vegas resident Justin Trippiedi said he likes Trump’s realism and that “he’s not part of the club.” Trippiedi considers himself an independent and doesn’t like the Democratic or Republican parties. He sees Trump also as that political outsider.

To Trippiedi, the biggest issues affecting Nevada are the economy with high rents, as well as the issue about trans women in sports.

“That’s definitely bothersome,” he said. “Women fought for how many years to do what they’re doing and now they come in and ruin it.”

Mylissa Kurz, a Las Vegas resident dressed as Morticia Addams of “The Addams Family” fame, said she likes how the country ran under Trump.

“I like how he’s honest. He’s not timid,” she said. “He doesn’t have to think about what he wants to say because he’s telling the truth. He calls it the way he sees it.”

Kurz specifically likes his whole idea on banning taxes on tips and Social Security.

“Vegas is such a tip-oriented place,” she said. “People work hard for their tips. Because we’ve got short staff everywhere, they’re expecting overtime. Because people don’t want to work.”