At a Donald Trump rally in the scorching heat of the southwestern US, where dozens of his supporters pleaded for medical help, activists said the president didn’t seem to understand that his plans to reverse climate change and “dig deeper” for fossil fuels would only make extreme weather worse.
A total of 24 people required medical attention due to the heat at the Trump rally in Las Vegas on Sunday. According to the Clark County Fire DepartmentSix of those people were taken to the hospital for treatment. Prior to their admission, 11 more people had to be hospitalized for heatstroke while waiting to speak at President Trump’s rally in Phoenix on Thursday.
Trump himself mentioned the heat during his speech on Sunday, with the Las Vegas rally starting around midday in temperatures around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). Climbed Temperatures soared to as high as 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The rally took place in a park with little shade, but organizers provided water and cooling tents and allowed attendees to use umbrellas for shade.
“It’s 110 degrees, but it doesn’t feel like it to me,” Trump said, wearing a suit jacket and his trademark red baseball cap. “I’m out here sweating like a dog. They don’t think about me. This is a tough job.”
Trump then said, “I don’t want anybody to bother me. I want all of my voters. I don’t care about you. I just want your vote. I don’t care.” Trump later said he was joking about not caring about his voters and complained that the media would criticize him for this.
Record-breaking heatwaves swept across much of the southwestern U.S. last week, with temperatures topping 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) from California to Arizona. Although the official start of summer is still a week away, heat warnings are in effect for roughly half of Arizona and Nevada, with temperatures reaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit in Las Vegas and 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) on Friday in Phoenix.
scientist i got you Heatwaves have become slower and longer-lasting due to the climate crisis, which is caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels. A study last year concluded that the scorching heat experienced in Europe and the US would have been virtually impossible without the effects of human-induced global warming.
But Trump has vowed to accelerate U.S. oil and gas production, which is already at record levels, and has chanted “Drill, drill, drill” at rallies. The recently convicted former president has called Joe Biden’s policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions “insane” and has solicited $1 billion in campaign contributions directly from oil and gas executives to help him pursue the policies as president.
“Donald Trump openly tells people it’s all about him,” said Alex Glass, an activist with the environmental group Climate Power. “He makes promises to big oil executives who are fueling the climate crisis, while at his rallies people are passing out from very real and very dangerous heat waves that he claims are fabricated.”
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But shivering Trump supporters in Las Vegas were unfazed by the danger of a worsening heatwave. “This is dry heat. It’s a big deal for the people of Las Vegas,” said Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, adding that it was “emblematic” of “the hellish walk for the rest of America” to get Trump elected.
“Hey, it’s worth it,” said Camille Lombardi, a 65-year-old retired nurse from Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, who was meeting Trump face-to-face for the first time. He told the Associated Press“It’s a shame it wasn’t indoors, but we’ll be fine.”
