Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen’s boast about being out “in front” after the 2017 Las Vegas massacre has added fuel to an already red-hot Nevada Senate race.
A video released Monday by the Nevada Independent showed Ms. Rosen telling attendees last month at a Seattle fundraiser that she knew what to do after the shooting based on her experience as a synagogue president, while other politicians didn’t.
“On Oct. 1, when we had that massacre? I went to those hospital rooms and those funerals. No one, none of the other politicians — ’What do we do?’ ” she told attendees. “I said, ’I’m just channeling my inner rabbi.’ “
Ms. Rosen added, “So I just, they put me in front, and I just did that, and it was because I knew. I’d been there.”
Veteran Nevada political analyst Jon Ralston called the comments “not a good look for @RepJackyRosen,” arguing that there was “not one scintilla of evidence” to suggest that other elected officials were befuddled while she led the way following the shooting.
The first-term congresswoman is challenging Republican Sen. Dean Heller in a race that has been deadlocked for months.
“Rep. Jacky Rosen is known for being a relatively sober, careful elected official,” said Mr. Ralston, publisher of the Nevada Independent, in a Monday column. “So when I first saw the video of her at a Seattle fundraiser bragging about her role on arguably the worst day in Nevada history and making it seem as if she was The Iron Lady among the feckless, I was stunned. And it takes a lot to do that.”
This is really not a good look for @RepJackyRosen. The audio/video clearly show her making it seem (falsely) that somehow she was asked to be in front of all other pols, who she implies were befuddled and did not know what to do on 1 October. It’s pretty unseemly boasting. https://t.co/QGhqQSFSFI
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) August 6, 2018
He said she may have gotten “carried away during a speaking engagement,” but that “in a place far from her home where she thought no one would know better, she came off as someone who grossly exaggerated her role on a terrible evening, simply to make herself look good.”
Eric Redman, a clean-energy consultant who attended the July 30 fundraiser, disagreed with Mr. Ralston’s characterization of her remarks, saying she “was not understood at all the way you are suggesting.”
“She wasn’t understood to be bragging about her actions or denigrating others for theirs,” he tweeted.
Oh, she was “not understood, ” eh? Silly us to just post the entire video and her actual words. She did not say what you said below she said. She said THEY put her “out front,” which is patently false. How do I know? With respect, I was here and you were not. https://t.co/ILa1BvO82b
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) August 6, 2018
In her response to the article, Ms. Rosen struck a humbler tone, saying, “There’s no guidebook for politicians on how to respond to a tragedy like this in your community.”
“It was an emotional and heartbreaking event and it was often tough to know the best ways to be there for those affected, but so many leaders stepped up to respond and help the community heal,” she said.
Those visiting hospitals and attending vigils after the shooting, which left 58 dead, included “the rest of the Nevada’s congressional delegation,” as well as Gov. Brian Sandoval, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Clark County commissioners, said the Independent.
Ms. Rosen said her years of experience as a synagogue president included “comforting people when they had lost someone or had a loved one in the hospital.”
“That experience made me a better leader, and I leaned on what I had learned then in the aftermath of 1 October to try to be helpful and comfort the victims, their families, and their loved ones,” Ms. Rosen said in the statement.
The hard-fought Heller-Rosen contest, which could be pivotal to control of the Senate, has grown increasingly heated amid months of polls showing the candidates in a statistical tie.
The Heller camp has accused Ms. Rosen of exaggerating her academic and business credentials, while she has charged Mr. Heller with bowing to President Trump by voting to repeal Obamacare.
The July 30 fundraiser, held at a private home, was hosted by a group that included J Street Pacific Northwest regional director Barbara Lahav, former Microsoft executives and philanthropists.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.