Nevada GOP Primary Gets Messy as Joey Gilbert Takes Swings at Fellow Republicans

The GOP’s ongoing civil war has made its way to Nevada. “Trump lawyer” Joey Gilbert entered the Nevada GOP primary for governor this week, and he’s already dragging the race to the right by attacking his opponents for not being loyal enough to Trump.

The former boxer who called masks “face diaper[s]” didn’t pull any punches when he called out likely GOP candidate Sheriff Joe Lombardo for his response to “the COVID-19 plandemic nonsense.” The attack was a warning shot to all other Republicans that this race will be defined by extremist loyalty to Trump’s conspiracy theories and unpopular policies.

Gilbert, who was caught on video at the deadly January 6th capitol insurrection, has made bogus election integrity his top campaign issue and called his fellow Republicans who didn’t support challenging the election results “lost, confused, or too stupid to be running.” Gilbert even called for a partisan audit of the 2020 election, mirroring the sham audit in Arizona driven by Trump’s ‘Big Lie.’

With Gilbert lashing out, NV GOP candidates will have to double down on their desperate attempts to win over Trump’s base. Mayor John Lee has promised to “follow the Trump agenda,” but he’s feeling the pressure as this primary heats up. He recently put his campaign ads back on TV to prove his conservative bonafides.

“It’s no surprise that Republicans are scrambling as the ongoing GOP infighting has come to Nevada,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “With far-right Trump loyalists like Joey Gilbert in the mix, the GOP primary is already turning into a nasty fight to prove fealty to Trump. Regardless of who comes out on top, the GOP candidate for Nevada governor will be bruised by the harmful and unpopular rhetoric of our disgraced former president.” 

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