Tells rally crowd GOP is for “strong borders, no crime”

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Eager to keep the Republican Party in control of the Senate, President Donald Trump pressed his tough anti-illegal immigration stance before supporters Saturday, saying “we have to be very strong” as he sought to help boost the candidacy of a one-time critic.

Trump was in Las Vegas to assist Dean Heller, the only Republican U.S. senator seeking re-election in a state that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016. Trump and Heller have papered over their once prickly relationship to present a united front in their shared goal of helping Republicans maintain, if not expand, their thin 51-49 majority in the Senate in November’s congressional elections.

Heller was among the officials waiting on the sweltering airport tarmac to greet Trump.

In remarks to several hundred often-cheering attendees at the Nevada GOP Convention, Trump portrayed himself as the toughest against illegal immigration, saying at one point, “I think I got elected largely because we are strong on the border.”

But he excluded any mention of the fact that a massive public outcry, including from members of his own family, forced him to reverse course this week and end the practice of separating children from families after they illegally cross the southern border into the U.S.

“On immigration, we have to be very strong,” Trump said, saying the immigration problem should have been solved years ago and blaming Democrats for causing it.  “The fact is we need more Republicans because the Democrats are obstructionists.”

Trump said Republicans are for “strong borders, no crime” and called it a winning issue for the party. He alleged that Democrats are for “open borders and MS-13 all over our country,” referring to the violent street gang, adding that stance is a losing issue for the opposition.

Trump praised Heller for voting to cut taxes, and said U.S. Rep. Jacky Rosen, Heller’s Democratic opponent, would vote to raise them. He declared that he had a “great nickname” for Rosen before allowing the audience to egg him into saying it: “Wacky Jacky.”

The president noted that Rosen was in Reno with Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren for the state Democratic Party convention. He again referred to Warren as “Pocahontas” to ridicule her claims of Native American ancestry.

“Wacky Jacky is campaigning with Pocahontas. Do you believe this?” Trump said. “When you see that, that’s not the senator you want.”

Rosen responded quickly, first on Twitter, then saying in a statement that Trump’s visit was Heller’s “reward” for his loyalty to Trump.

“The President is attacking me with lies and petty insults because I’m not afraid to stand up to him,” she said. “Dean Heller has been a rubber stamp for Donald Trump in Washington, caving to the President’s divisive agenda at Nevada’s expense.”

Outside the convention, at least 300 people protesting Trump’s policy of separating families at the border were stretched along a sidewalk outside the casino-hotel where the president met behind closed doors with supporters.