Warren says she’s ready to take on Trump at Las Vegas rally

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told voters on Friday that she was ready for a general election battle with Donald Trump, as she and other candidates campaigned all around the state on the final day before votes are counted in Nevada’s caucuses.

Warren kept up her attacks on former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, whom she derided during Wednesday’s debate for signing nondisclosure agreements in alleged harassment cases. At a rally at the Clark County Government Center, she said her aggressive treatment of Bloomberg showed she was ready to take on a bigger target, President Donald Trump.

“Elizabeth Warren can beat Donald Trump,” she said, telling the crowd if anybody had doubts, “we have the video from Wednesday.”

“I am ready for that man,” Warren said, referring to the president.

Former candidate-turned-Warren-supporter Julian Castro also said the Warren-Bloomberg faceoff proves Warren has the moxie for a general election.

“You saw how she handled Mr. Bloomberg,” Castro said. “Elizabeth Warren already made him cry ‘Uncle.’ ”

Elsewhere in Nevada on Friday:

— Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who usually denounces billionaires in general, took aim at a specific one at a rally Friday at the Springs Preserve. “Bloomberg has every right in the world to run for president. He has no right to buy the presidency.” Sanders — leading in polls going into Saturday’s caucuses — said his campaign has been worrying both Republican and Democratic leaders. “As you may have noticed lately, the establishment’s getting a little bit nervous.”

— Former Vice President Joe Biden — whose rally at the Hyde Park Middle School gymnasium was interrupted by a protester apparently concerned about climate change — castigated Trump for cozying up to “thug” world leaders and insulting military heroes. “This guy’s more George Wallace than George Washington,” Biden said, referring to the three-time Democratic presidential candidate who defended segregation.

— Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar had Northern Nevada to herself on Friday, swinging through Elko and then holding a rally at a Boys & Girls Club gymnasium in Reno. The moderate Democrat highlighted the differences between her plans and her more liberal opponents. “We don’t need to be blowing up the Affordable Care Act,” she said, saying health care reforms need to happen “in a sensible way.”

— Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg began a busy day of campaigning by knocking on doors with DREAMer advocate Astrid Silva. They only got one person to answer, and she said she did not plan to caucus for him. But Silva was happy for the visit: “This is my neighborhood,” she said. “I’m very happy that we could have a presidential candidate come out where and see how people actually live.”

— Later in the day, Buttigieg announced a plan to protect public lands and oceans by 2030. “I don’t have to tell Nevada how much is at stake right here in the state because some of the most remarkable and nationally distinctive public lands are right here in the state,” he told members of an environmental roundtable at Clark County Wetlands Park.

— Businessman Tom Steyer took a tour of the Culinary Health Center in Las Vegas and promised to address the high cost of prescription drugs. “I’m for the public option on the Affordable Care Act, and if we can make it good enough that everybody is going to choose it, it’s on us to make it good enough so that people are willing to give up their employer-based health plan,” he said. “I want to use the power of the federal government to break down costs ruthlessly against companies that are ripping off the American citizens.”

— Later, Steyer said at a pre-caucus event put on by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union that he is the only candidate who can unite Democrats of all stripes. “Trump has been doing well. He can win.” Steyer said, adding that the November general election is “‘show up, don’t blow it’ time for the Democratic Party.”

— At that same event, Buttigieg said that “freedom itself” was at stake in maintaining infrastructure such as water systems and roads. He encouraged AFSCME members at the forum to challenge candidates to address local-level issues as they campaign.

— Friday night, Steyer called for the United States to adopt more “compassionate” immigration policies. He also took aim at Trump during the Mi Familia Vota event at the UA Local 525 Plumbers, Pipefitters, Welders and HVAC headquarters in Las Vegas.

“He’s not anti-immigrant,” Steyer said.“He’s a racist. He’s anti-nonwhite immigrants.”

Steyer also said he was committed to recruiting Latinos and Latinas to run for office.

— Buttigieg added some star power to a rally at the Faiss Middle School, when he was introduced by actor and activist Michael J. Fox. Buttigieg challenged the crowd to imagine the post-Trump world: “I always like to begin by inviting everyone here to form in your own mind’s eye … the image of what it’s going to be like the first time the sun comes up over the deserts and mountains of Nevada and Donald Trump is no longer president,” he said.

Contact Gary Martin at GMartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @GaryMartininDC on Twitter. Review-Journal reporters Shea Johnson, Blake Apgar, Colton Lochhead, Briana Erickson, David Ferrara, Mick Akers and Dalton LaFerney contributed to this story.