The American president who can’t resist punching down in weight class took his re-election campaign to Nevada last week and immediately went after his opponent de jour, Gov. Steve Sisolak.

In largely unmasked rallies in Minden and Las Vegas, Donald Trump tipped his mitt on his sick campaign strategy by attempting to blame Sisolak and other Democratic governors for everything from the spread of COVID-19 and climate change to massive voter fraud. Trump attempted to paint Sisolak as a political spoiler bent on preventing patriots from enjoying their constitutional freedom to reject medical best practices and pack closely together during a pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 fellow citizens.

Trump can’t beat Biden on experience, intelligence, or human decency. So he has to deflect and misdirect. Like his mob mentor Roy Cohn, Trump has created a crisis and figures to alleviate it — or at least place the blame on others for it. Tag, Gov. Sisolak, you’re it.

Sisolak’s insistence on trying to protect the health and safety of the state’s residents continues to be vilified by Trump and the Nevada Republican Party as part of some grand conspiracy to prevent America from being great again. Adam Paul Laxalt and other Republican undercard fighters are eating this up. Every rabbit punch and shot below the belt delivered to Sisolak is bound to soften him up in the long run to 2022. From the tenor of the state party’s donor emails, it also appears to be helping fundraising.

But talk about getting under a guy’s thin skin. I think Sisolak should be blushing with pride to be on the receiving end of so much attention from the commander-in-chief of the most powerful nation on Earth. Alas, if only Putin received as much criticism as Sisolak.

Proving he’s no punching bag, Sisolak responded with a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, who in theory is in charge of the White House Coronavirus Task Force following Trump’s trampling of Nevada’s emergency directives.

Sisolak wrote in part, “I urge the administration to consider both the health and economic consequences of this type of unsanctioned mass gatherings and would appreciate better collaboration in the future.”

I’m guessing he’s not waiting for a reply.

Trump isn’t the only one who gave us a peek behind his campaign’s curtain. His longtime ally Roger Stone, fresh from a presidential commutation of his conviction on seven felony charges, promoted the false voter fraud narrative and called on Trump to declare martial law and seize ballots in Nevada.

Laugh and say no serious person pays attention to creepy-crazy Roger Stone.

The President of the United States does.

Then there’s the hair-raising story of former Trump campaign adviser and Stone acolyte Michael Caputo, the assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services, who aired a 26-minute video on Facebook falsely accusing scientists inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of sedition in an effort to derail the president’s re-election effort. He went so far as to predict left-wing hit squads were preparing for an armed insurrection following the November election. At one point, Caputo added conspiratorially, “There are scientists who work for this government who don’t want America to get well, not until after Joe Biden is president.”

After a story broke, the department released a statement calling Caputo “a critical, integral part of the president’s coronavirus response” and an important messenger in the administration’s COVID-19 fight. But it didn’t end there.

Caputo has since taken down the post, apologized for the irrational rant and has announced he’s taking a leave of absence. But, really, he was only echoing the incendiary, conspiracy-stoking rhetoric of his longtime friend Stone and the president himself. Caputo’s brand of QAnon crap generally gets a fellow a pat on the head from the Conspiracy Theorist-in-Chief.

But when CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield sought to restore a semblance of order this past week, he not only had to express his disappointment in Caputo, but remind the public that – contrary to mixed messages coming from the White House – a viable COVID-19 vaccine was still many months away and mask-wearing and social distancing are the best way to help stop the spread of the virus. To which Trump responded that it was Redfield who was confused.

And on it goes while more Americans die each day.

What does the unhinged rhetoric of Stone and Caputo have to do with Trump’s recent visit to Nevada? More than you might think.

Nevada has long been a political petri dish, an election laboratory, and Trump knows it. If his messaging tightens the polls here, as it appears to have, he can beat Biden. Trump’s doublespeak on the importance of wearing masks continues, his willingness to hold Silver State super-spreader events, and his cheering on of right-wing militia groups to help “liberate” blue states, takes on a more ominous feeling with each passing day. It all only further feeds the once-seemingly preposterous idea that Trump doesn’t plan to leave office no matter the election’s outcome.

In his troubled Facebook rant, Caputo allowed that the rising COVID-19 death toll was getting to him, as it would almost anyone. Imagine being part of an administration whose narrative includes rejecting science, hiding troubling statistics, and downplaying the greatest pandemic in a century.

“You are not waking up every morning and talking about dead Americans,” he said.

Actually, we are.

As the New York Times reported, Caputo then implored Trump supporters who planned to attend the president’s rallies to wear masks.

Sounds like Caputo forgot his lines.

After getting cuffed around by Trump, Sisolak still has medical science and the facts on his side.

How much that means at this time in our history is anyone’s guess.

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family’s Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in Time, Readers Digest, The Daily Beast, Reuters, Ruralite and Desert Companion, among others. He also offers weekly commentary on Nevada Public Radio station KNPR. His newest book—a biography of iconic Nevada civil rights and political leader, Joe Neal— “Westside Slugger: Joe Neal’s Lifelong Fight for Social Justice” is published by University of Nevada Press and is available at Amazon.com. Contact him at [email protected]. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith