* President Trump came to Las Vegas on Saturday. Two candidates running against incumbent Clark County GOP Chairman Jesse Law were blocked from getting in. Why?
* Well, Law went on Steve Sanson’s podcast yesterday and tried to explain.
* According to Law, the Trump campaign was worried that Jill Douglass and Johnny Bru were supposedly organizing a protest of some sort – you know, exercising their First Amendment rights - at the event.
* According to Law, the Trump campaign – which we know is essentially the Nevada Republican Party – thought the pair might “heckle” the president during his speech based on some text messages they obtained.
* First, I sincerely doubt it. Both Douglass and Bru are well-known and established Trump supporters. But even if they did, it wouldn’t be the first time someone heckled a Trump speech – and they’ve been promptly perp-walked out.
* And Trump LOVES that sort of thing!
* But the bottom line is, the two challengers to Law were banned from the rally because of something they “might” do, not something they did. They were guilty, apparently, of a “thought crime.”
* Law went on to categorize the text messages he says he has as “irresponsible” and “disqualifies” them for the chairmanship. “You don’t do that to a presumptive nominee,” he declared.
* “Presumptive nominee” six months before the first ballot is cast? Oh, yeah. Totally neutral.
* Interestingly, Law went on to criticize the Trump campaign for picking a venue that held such a small number of people. He also criticized Trump for not going outside to address the hundreds of people who couldn’t get in.
* So it’s OK for Law to criticize the “presumptive nominee,” but not for others to criticize Trump for his alleged support of Jesse’s reign?
* And about that Trump “endorsement.” According to Law, Trump endorsed him at a private dinner back in March – which, of course, was well before Douglass and Bru got into the race against him.
* But there’s nothing on paper or in the public domain verifying the supposed endorsement. We just have to take Jesse’s word for it – which, understandably, no one is doing.
* As such, Jesse went on to say the failure of the president to publicly endorse him during his remarks on Saturday “bothered” him and left him “red in the face.”
* Wouldn’t be surprised, though, if some official endorsement by Trump is issued before next Tuesday’s election. Trump clearly wants someone in the Clark GOP’s catbird seat who the Trump campaign can direct and control.
* I have nothing against Jesse. Heck, I helped him win his race for the position two years ago.
* But after watching his two-hour interview with Sanson – and make no mistake, he’s a smooth talker; could sell ice cubes to Eskimos – the party’s electoral failures last year far outweigh the purported successes.
* Time for a change.
* But I’ll wait until after tomorrow’s debate to decide if I think one of the challengers is a better choice than the others.
* Final note…
* The Las Vegas Sun – Nevada’s version of Pravda that despises all things Republican except hard-core RINOs – published a front-page story on the joke of a campaign for president by GOP candidate Barak Zilberberg this morning.
* Zilberberg was last seen running the joke of a campaign for governor in Nevada last year, coming in 15th out of 16 in the GOP primary.
* Gee, I wonder why the Sun would give him even the time of day, let alone a front-page story?
