Associated Press: “Lombardo has both embraced the [defund the police] phrase and used it as a cudgel against the left as he competes in a Republican primary while running a force of some 5,000 officers in the Las Vegas metro area.”

Caught for the third time in the past two months, Joe Lombardo is trying to have it both ways on critical issues. This time, when it comes to the issue of defunding the police, Lombardo has both supported the effort and used it as a talking point in his campaign to become the Republican nominee in the Governor’s race.

Previously, Lombardo used his campaign launch to tout his “zero-tolerance policy” on immigration despite ending an agreement to coordinate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2019. Just last week he was caught removing a photo of himself receiving the COVID-19 vaccine from his campaign Flickr account while lambasting the Las Vegas Metro Police Department’s low vaccine rate as “unacceptable,” and calling his officers who hadn’t yet received the vaccine “lazy.”

“Depending on who’s talking to him–Lombardo has a different opinion on just about every important topic,” said Nevada Democratic Victory spokesperson Molly Forgey. “He has become so desperate to win, he will say or do anything to get ahead. From immigration to vaccines, to defund the police, Lombardo continues to prove he’s just another politician trying to make it through a competitive primary.”

Associated Press: Police officers become candidates as policing debate rages

By Michelle L. Price

August 2, 2021

Key points:

• In his first campaign ad as a Republican candidate for Nevada governor, Joe Lombardo picks up a badge, a gun and a tactical vest that says “police” while a 911 call plays in the background.

• A voiceover says the Las Vegas-area sheriff kept his city safe, “while other communities rioted and burned.”

• In Nevada, a political swing state with a Democratic governor seeking another term next year, Lombardo has both embraced the [defund the police] phrase and used it as a cudgel against the left as he competes in a Republican primary while running a force of some 5,000 officers in the Las Vegas metro area.

• “I’m on the record saying if you want to defund me, I have no problem with that as long as it’s used appropriately in something that would benefit us in the law enforcement space,” Lombardo said in an interview with The Associated Press.

• But on his campaign website and Twitter account, Lombardo declares he “will stop all efforts to defund the police” and said, “The GOP is NOT the party of defund the police.” His campaign video decries “liberal politicians” who try to defund the police.

• When asked about the mixed messages and if he thinks voters know he supports defunding the police, Lombardo said he drew a distinction between his use of the phrase and the way other activists have used it.

• Laura Martin, the executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, was among the activists and organizers who met with Lombardo during last summer’s protests to discuss the demonstrations and police response. She said he made comments then indicating he was supportive of the defunding the police concept, but she felt his main point was stopping the protests.

• “I think he wanted to come across as understanding, but at the same time his officers were brutalizing protesters,” she said. “It seems like he says what he needs to say in front of the audience that needs to hear it.”

Read the full story here.

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