トランプ氏、有罪評決で支持強固に　米ラスベガスで集会

【ラスベガスＡＦＰ＝時事】１１月の米大統領選の激戦州、西部ネバダ州。うだるような暑さとなった９日、ドナルド・トランプ前大統領（７７）の選挙集会がラスベガスで開かれ、多数の支持者が集まった。（写真は、米ネバダ州ラスベガスのサンセット・パークで開かれた選挙集会で演説するドナルド・トランプ前大統領）
　サンセット・パークでの集会は、不倫の口止め料をめぐり業務記録を改ざんしたとされる事件でトランプ氏が有罪評決を下されて以降、初の大規模なものとなった。
　だが、熱心な支持者にとって有罪評決は、民主党のジョー・バイデン大統領と再対戦するトランプ氏への支持を一層強めるきっかけでしかなかった。
　家族で参加していた４０歳の女性はＡＦＰに「裁判で起きたことなんてどうでもいい。彼（トランプ氏）に対する私の考えはまったく変わらない」と語り、「国民は、こんなくだらないことにはうんざりしていると思う」と付け加えた。
　気温は午前１０時までに既に３４度に達していた。正午には３７度を超えたが、共和党カラーの赤い色を身に着けた人々はトランプ氏の演説を聞こうと１．５キロ以上にわたって列をつくっていた。
　沿道ではトランプ氏を応援するＴシャツが販売されていた。評決に絡めて「私は有罪判決を受けた重罪犯に投票する」というメッセージが入ったＴシャツもあった。
　集会の終了間際には、熱中症で救急隊員に手当てを受ける支持者が少なくとも１人見られた。
　会場には、米国在住だが投票権のない支持者もいた。取材に応じたチリ人の女性は、自身にとって不法移民は重要な問題だと話した。
　「私は移民で、ビザ（査証）を取得して合法的に入国するまで何年も待たなければならなかったので、大勢の不法移民が平然と入国している様子が気になって仕方ない。だからこそ、私はトランプ大統領を支持する」
　トランプ氏のＴシャツを着ていた別の女性は、同氏が有罪評決を受けたことで、むしろ応援する気持ちが強まったと語った。評決が出ると、「すぐに（トランプ氏の）陣営に寄付した」と話した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/06/11-16:41）

Thousands of Donald Trump supporters rallied in baking heat Sunday to cheer on the Republican presidential candidate in Nevada, a key battleground state for the US election in November.
It's not too hot out here, right? the 77-year-old told a cheering crowd in Las Vegas.
If you start going down, we have people. They'll pick you up right away. They'll throw water.
The gathering in Sunset Park was Trump's first major rally since he was found guilty late last month of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
But for his most loyal followers, the verdict only strengthened Trump's position against his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden.
I don't care about what happened to him in the trial... it doesn't change my mind about him at all, Lindsay Elliott, who came to the Trump event with her family, told AFP.
I think it's going to help him. I think that the American people are done with this crap, the 40-year-old added.
Her daughter Mackenzie, 19, agreed: It sucks what happened but I think it's just going to make him stronger and make voters more encouraged to vote (for him).
Trump, who faces three other criminal cases which are unlikely to be heard before the November election, spoke for just under an hour and attacked Biden as the worst president in the history of our country.
The Republican repeated conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen by Democrats -- despite exhaustive investigations finding no such evidence, and him being charged in relation to his alleged attempts to overturn the ballot result.
Trump also spoke ominously of the consequences if he is not elected in November, telling supporters: If it doesn't happen, you're headed to World War III.
- 'Convicted felon' -
Trump has been on a political swing through the American West that saw him hold a fundraiser in California and attend a campaign town hall event in Arizona.
By 10:00 am (1700 GMT) Sunday in Las Vegas, as the thermometer already read 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 Celsius), people wearing the traditional red of the Republican Party were queueing to hear Trump speak at midday, when the mercury soared to triple digits.
Vendors sold t-shirts reading I'm voting for the convicted felon -- alluding to Trump's verdict -- along the mile-long line.
Near the end of the rally, at least one person overcome by the heat was seen being attended to by paramedics.
Trump's Las Vegas event was a first for Shay Chan, 25, who found himself motivated by the New York court ruling.
It's very disheartening to see America is turning in this direction, Chan told AFP. If it can happen to Trump, it can happen to anyone else, right?
Others came to show their support even if they could not vote, such as Karen Hall -- a Chilean who lives in the United States but is not a citizen. She said illegal migration is an important issue for her.
I'm an immigrant and I had to wait years to get my visa and arrive legally, and it bothers me that so many immigrants arrive illegally and pass through like it's nothing. That bothers me a lot, that's why I support president Trump, she said.
Beth Matthews, wearing a Trump t-shirt, said she was only buoyed by his criminal conviction.
I contributed right away to the campaign as soon as they came out with the verdict, she said.