Trump's popularity at CPAC gathering, which he shunned a year ago, shows how he's conquered conservatives

Loading…

Donald Trump skipped the nation’s preeminent conference of conservatives last year, underscoring the friction between the populist candidate and many of the warring factions in his party during a heated presidential primary season.

This year, his dominance at the forum, the Conservative Political Action Conference, is hard to miss.

It’s not just the red “Make America Great Again” caps, the throngs of college Republicans surrounding his aides and allies, the giant Trump-decorated pickup truck at the convention center entrance or the excitement about Trump’s Friday speech, the first by a president in his first year in office since Ronald Reagan. 

It’s also a triumph, though not yet a full conquest, for his ideas.

Stephen K. Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist and the former executive chairman of the far-right Breitbart News, joked as he sat down for a Thursday’s main event, a panel featuring him and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, that he used to hold a competing event called “Uninvited” for conservatives whose philosophies were considered too radical for the conference.

Now Bannon is a marquee draw at CPAC. The conference organizer interviewed him in front of thousands of people as he spoke about defending his notion of American culture and lashed out against the “corporatist, globalist media” standing in the way of President Trump’s “economic nationalist agenda.”

Bannon also praised Priebus, the former GOP chairman, another indication of how the mainstream of the party has come into Trump’s fold. But both men made clear that Bannon was the one pushing Trump’s vision.

The most sustained applause came when Bannon boasted of killing U.S. participation in a Pacific trade deal among 12 countries that make up 40% of the global economy, a position sharply at odds with traditional conservatives who have long championed such agreements. Trump called the withdrawal “one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history.” 

Bannon did not discuss foreign policy, but he and Trump advocate pulling back from the global stage, another issue that separates them from many traditional Republicans who favor a prominent international role for America.

“We're at the top of the first inning of this,” Bannon said near the end of his remarks. “We want you to have our back.” 

Conference organizers seemed to have gotten the message.

Breitbart News owns the first booth by the entrance of the convention hall, hawking “Border Wall Construction Company” T-shirts.

One of Bannon’s former editors at Breitbart, Milo Yiannopoulos, a prominent voice for the so-called alt-right, a loosely connected network of white nationalists, misogynists and anti-Semites, had been invited to speak until a recording emerged in which he made comments many perceived as endorsing pedophilia. Bannon had called Breitbart under his leadership a platform for the alt-right.

Even those who do not agree with all of Trump’s ideas seemed pleased with the excitement in the halls of the waterfront convention center outside Washington. And they believed he was winning over the conservative movement, even if Trump has historically low popularity ratings with the wider public. Those here who disagree with Trump on trade, a border wall or other populist policies were generally pleased with his Cabinet choices and extremely happy with his nominee for the Supreme Court, federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch.

“A year ago, a lot of them were for Cruz,” said Ron Fodor, the mayor of Slippery Rock, Pa., referring to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, another event speaker who was competing with Trump in 2016 for the Republican presidential nomination.

Now, Fodor said, “it’s kind of like a victory party.”

For most of the last two decades, CPAC has served as a cattle call for aspiring presidential candidates. Cruz and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who also ran in the 2016 GOP primary, showed up this year. But with Trump’s victory, the party will not be seeking a new standard-bearer for some time.

In recent years, Cruz and libertarian Republican Sen. Rand Paul have won straw polls at the conference, owing to its libertarian streak. But before Trump snubbed last year’s event, he had been a fairly popular draw, mostly because of his willingness to attack liberals in blunt terms.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-cpac-20170224-story.html#nt=related-content

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Less Prone left a comment for Tammy
"Welcome"
8 hours ago
tjdavis posted a video

Mike Benz: DARPA & USAID are Weaponizing Music to Control Human Behavior

Watch every episode ad-free & uncensored on Patreon: https://patreon.com/dannyjonesMike Benz is a former State Department official and current Executive Dire...
18 hours ago
Tammy is now a member of 12160 Social Network
yesterday
Less Prone commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

The Cartel

"In his 1995 book; Bloodlines of the illuminati, Frits Sringmaier listed the following 13…"
yesterday
tjdavis posted a photo
yesterday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Tuesday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post What Four UFO Whistle Blowers All Suffered in Common?
"This falls in the category of political assassination, a very shameful policy of eliminating people…"
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Tuesday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"cheeki kea Thank you, just one thing. The Choctaw Indian who came to the rescue was a war veteran…"
Monday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"Well that is one fine story you've got going there Doc V. with a very interesting roll up. I…"
Monday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
"Just another bizarre chapter in WWII that seems more suspect as paranormal."
Sunday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Burbia's blog post was featured

Former President Trump?

When was this article written? It is attributed to Victor Davis Hanson. He is a Fellow at Hoover…See More
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Burbia's blog post Former President Trump?
"It must be an unintended mistake "former". But that Trump demanded to keep Khan away is a…"
Sunday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Mistake We Made in America
Sunday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
"Quite an uplifting story of the winter war. Finland was overpowered by ten to one and could still…"
Sunday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Elon Weighs in on Charlie Kirk's Assassination and How it is an Instrument of Social Control

For a very long time now there has been in place mass population behavioral control operations that…See More
Saturday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"Less Prone Thanks Buddy I worked on it for 3 days! "
Friday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
Friday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted