The Democratic National Committee is rolling out a special welcome for Donald Trump as he arrives in Las Vegas for a rally Sunday: a billboard calling him a “convicted white-collar crook.”
“Trump was a disaster for Nevada’s economy. Now he’s back. A convicted white-collar crook. Coddling billionaires, leaving workers behind,” reads the sign, which is located on an interstate a few miles from the location of the former president’s upcoming rally, according to Politico.
When Trump left office in Jan. 2021, Nevada unemployment was at 8.9 percent — nearly four points higher than it is now — and it’s clear the DNC wants to remind voters of that fact.
“After promising to take care of Nevada’s middle class, he implemented a tax scam that made the ultra-wealthy and corporations wealthier off the backs of working families, repeatedly attacked unions, and sat back as Nevada bled tens of thousands of jobs,” Stephanie Justice, a DNC spokesperson, told Politico.
Nevada isn’t the only state where the DNC is trolling Trump with billboards near his rally locations. In Arizona, the party put up a billboard that called Trump “unhinged and unfit.”
“Trump already attacked Arizona’s democracy once,” the billboard read. “Now he’s back as a convicted felon. He’s out for revenge and retribution. Trump: unhinged and unfit.”
Biden himself called Trump a “convicted felon” for the first time publicly at a fundraiser in Connecticut last Monday. Other Democratic lawmakers have also used the term, including Reps. Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin.
“For the first time in American history, a former president is convicted — a convicted felon,” Biden told the audience. “He’s now seeking the office of the presidency.”
Another group, Republican Voters Against Trump, is running billboards of its own that label Trump a “convicted felon.”
Recent poll data hints that Trump’s conviction may be making an impact with voters, which could explain why his opponents are emphasizing it in their messaging. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted shortly after the verdict found that ten percent of Republicans and 25 percent of independents said the conviction made them less likely to vote for Trump.
Eighteen percent of independents said they were more likely to vote for Trump following the verdict. The vast majority of Republicans — approximately nine in ten — said the verdict would have no effect or would make them more likely to support Trump.