Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Obama makes no mention of Vegas tourism remark

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Obama on Tuesday never mentioned his earlier remarks about Las Vegas tourism. Should he have mentioned those remarks?

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No apologies.

No clarifications.

No setting the record straight.

President Barack Obama's speech at a Harry Reid fundraiser Tuesday night made no reference whatsoever to the remarks that sent Vegas boosters -- and Mayor Oscar Goodman in particular -- into a fury a few months ago.

In February, Obama said companies receiving taxpayer money "can’t get corporate jets, you can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime.” Local tourism officials and elected leaders, led by Goodman, said that the comments, regardless of context, created the perception among the public that the city was off limits.

Notably, they have offered little to no evidence that declining business is related to the president's comments.

On Tuesday, as close as Obama got to the controversy was mentioning his hotel room. "It's good to be back in Caesars," he said. "That was the hotel we stayed at when we were campaigning in Nevada, and I thought we had a pretty nice room. But now that I'm president, they upgraded me. It's a really nice room now."

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