Nevada Current: “As the head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Sheriff Joe Lombardo isn’t an anti-vaxxer. But as a gubernatorial candidate, he might not mind if you think he is.”

Joe Lombardo is once again trying to have it both ways on critical issues impacting Nevadans, this time when it comes to urging those eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine. In April, Sheriff Lombardo called the low vaccination rate among the Las Vegas Metro Police department “unacceptable,” even referring to his own officers as “lazy.” 

Now, as a candidate for Governor facing a competitive and crowded Republican primary, Lombardo is distancing himself from encouraging vaccinations altogether–removing a photo of him receiving the vaccine from his public Flickr page and staying mum on his campaign social media accounts instead of urging Nevadans to take this critical step in stopping the spread of this virus. 

This isn’t the first time Lombardo worked to have it both ways. In June, Newsweek reported on Lombardo’s attempt to take both sides on the issue of immigration. While Lombardo previously ended an agreement between Metro and Immigration Customs Enforcement to help the agency deport immigrants, since launching his campaign, Lombardo has invoked dangerous rhetoric when referring to immigrants and has insisted he will enforce a zero tolerance policy when it comes to immigration. 

“Joe Lombardo will say whatever it takes to win,” said Nevada Democratic Victory spokesperson Molly Forgey. “Rather than using his position as sheriff to urge Nevadans to get vaccinated against a deadly virus, he’d rather stay quiet in the hopes that it will help him win a competitive primary. Lombardo is just another politician more focused on winning than leading.”

Read more about his political dance below:

Nevada Current: Vaccination photo disappears from Lombardo’s campaign Flickr

April Corbin Girnus

July 30, 2021

Key points:

• As the head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Sheriff Joe Lombardo isn’t an anti-vaxxer. But as a gubernatorial candidate, he might not mind if you think he is.

• Lombardo’s official campaign Flickr page originally included a photo that appears to show him receiving a vaccination against COVID-19 at University Medical Center, the Current has learned. That photo has since been set to private and is no longer viewable to the public. It was removed sometime between June 23, when it was downloaded by a source who provided it to the Current, and July 23, when the Flickr page sans the photo was archived. 

• What exactly motivated the removal of the vaccination photo is unclear. Lombardo’s campaign did not return phone calls or respond to emailed questions sent by the Current for this story.

• Vaccination has become a politicized issue. As president, Donald Trump downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic, setting the tone for a culture of vaccine hesitancy, resistance and antagonism that is now resulting in preventable COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Democrats, including first-term Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, have been aggressively urging anyone eligible to get vaccinated. That has put many Republicans — including perhaps Lombardo — in a precarious position politically.

• As a potential challenger to Sisolak, one of Lombardo’s selling points is that he is a Republican with a favorable enough reputation to make a dent in deep-blue Clark County. However, to get to that point, Lombardo must first survive a Republican primary where a photo of himself being vaccinated might not be well received by some segments of the GOP base.

• As a gubernatorial candidate, Lombardo has criticized Sisolak for his handling of the pandemic at large, but talking points have largely focused on businesses and the economy. A review of his campaign website and social media show no criticisms — or encouragement — of vaccines.

• But speaking in his capacity as sheriff, Lombardo told the Review-Journal in April he believes he was one of the first people in Clark County to receive the vaccine. Police officers were one of the first occupation groups to become eligible for the vaccine when they were rolled out in December 2020.

• If Lombardo was hoping to lead by example, that turned out not to be the case.

Read the full story here.

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