Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Ringside Gym) set aside her mild-mannered demeanor this week and reminded doubters that she can punch when she needs to.

With the nation mired in the longest government shutdown in our history and the Trump administration playing its gilded fiddle, Rosen led a chorus of Nevada Democrats in pummeling the president for his latest reckless statements and threats to the state’s most vulnerable citizens.

In a Nov. 4 interview with Nevada press, Rosen reiterated the state’s opposition to Trump’s cockeyed call for renewed nuclear weapons testing after 33 years and a generation of hard-fought international negotiations and treaties. The president decided it was wise to make the announcement in an Oct. 30 post on Truth Social: “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”

In a 60 Minutes interview with Norah O’Donnell, Trump reiterated his stance. “I’m saying that we’re going to test nuclear weapons like other countries do, yes,” he said. “Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it.” Russia and China haven’t tested nuclear weapons since the 1990s and this week denied conducting tests.

Trump’s alarmist rhetoric is nothing new. He is, after all, the king of chaos. But this hits particularly close to home in Nevada, which has played an integral role in nuclear weapons testing. The president’s sloppy talk was walked back Tuesday by Department of Energy Secretary Christopher Wright, who assured “Americans near historic test sites such as the Nevada National Security Site have no cause for concern. So you’re testing all the other parts of a nuclear weapon to make sure they deliver the appropriate geometry, and they set up the nuclear explosion.”

Rosen remained unamused.

“So, last week Donald Trump announced plans to resume nuclear weapons testing in the United States,” she said at the Nov. 4 interview. “I don’t have to tell any of you just how dangerous and irresponsible a decision like that is for our state of Nevada. There’s absolutely zero evidence that explosive testing is needed, or is necessary.”

Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the subject understands that. That appears to exclude Trump, and if that doesn’t make the hair on your neck stand up, nothing will.

Reminded that the administration was busy repairing the damage done by the president, Rosen said she was looking for an explanation from Trump himself.

Of more immediate concern to many Nevadans are the threats to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamp benefits, Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies and Medicaid benefits used by millions of Americans. Both parties in Washington are playing the blame game, but Rosen reminded skeptics that only one is in the majority. And the issue cuts across party lines. In reframing a reporter’s question, she asked, “Why aren’t we asking the Republicans, ‘Where’s their compassion when it comes to people’s health care? Why aren’t they listening to their constituents? Why aren’t they visiting their food banks?’”

With nearly 95,000 Nevadans benefiting from the ACA tax credits, this is an avoidable crisis that’s already playing out in Nevada’s metro areas and rural communities alike.

By Wednesday, Rosen found herself in a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing sparring with Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), whose attempt to mock her as some sort of elitist went off the rails when he admitted to collecting his Democratic colleagues’ vehicle identification numbers. His effort to dump responsibility for the government shutdown on the minority party got worse from there.

“This is a Republican shutdown, my friend,” Rosen retorted in remarks that reverberated nationally. “You are in control of the White House. You are in control of the House, and you are in control of the Senate. And if you went home to a food bank instead of going to Mar-a-Lago to eat at a gold-plated dinner while people are starving, you might see and hear your constituents, sir. You are blind to the suffering of your people.”

If this were an actual boxing match, the referee would step in and stop the fight on cuts. But it’s not. On Friday, the Trump administration appealed a judge’s order to distribute full monthly SNAP benefits for November while preparing to start distributing full benefits to states.

In reality, the fight is far from over. But thanks to Trump’s reckless rhetoric, his pet Republicans are taking more hits each day.

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 New Lines, Time, Reader’s Digest, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Reuters and Desert Companion, among others.