Nevada Gov. Lombardo has choice words for critics in leaked audio

Jessica Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Apr 10, 2025

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LAS VEGAS — In leaked audio from a Republican dinner in Carson City, Gov. Joe Lombardo criticized anti-Trump protesters and lambasted those who speak against him on social media.

The Republican governor said his message to those who criticize him and Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony on social media is “f--- you.” He said the expletive in leaked audio released via X by the progressive media network MeidasTouch.

Lombardo called the recent “Hands Off!” protests that occurred nationwide and in Nevada “stupid” in his April 5 speech at the Nevada Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner, claiming the protesters were paid by the Democratic Party to be there.

“That momentum and those crowd sizes isn’t because they’re pissed, because they want to make a difference,” he said. “It’s because they’re getting paid. So don’t lose sight of that.”

He called the title of the protest — Hands Off — troubling because, he said, the theme of the Democratic Party is “hands out,” adding that the party’s strategy is for people to stay home and wait for government handouts.

“What can you do to give away taxpayers’ money to the benefit to the people that don’t feel like working, right?” he said.

Lombardo also said there were “probably 10,000 different signs” at the protest with no central message, “but the central message was: What do you mean you want me to go back to work?”

His remarks were met with laughter and applause from the audience, according to the audio.

Lombardo’s office declined to comment about the leaked audio.

A spokesperson for the Nevada State Democratic Party said it is a “desperate and pathetic lie” to suggest that Nevadans were paid to protest, when in reality, “Nevadans are pissed.”

”It is a slap in the face to Nevadans that at a time when our state has the highest unemployment rate in the nation and is lagging the rest of the country in job growth, Joe Lombardo would rather insult his constituents than listen to them voice concerns about the real harms being inflicted on them by both him and the Trump administration,” Communications Director Tai Sims said in a statement.

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