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      How Trump’s big lie played out on the CPAC stage

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      How Trump’s big lie played out on the CPAC stageMost speakers focused on issues other than election integrity, but prominent election deniers were still given top billingIn the exhibit hall, vendors displayed various styles of hats declaring “Trump won” and attendees referred to former president Donald Trump as the rightful winner of the 2020 election.But on the event stage, most prominent Republican lawmakers at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) didn’t bring up Trump’s big lie. Instead they largely chose not to repeat his common talking point that rampant voter fraud cost him his re-election.A diminished but loyal Trump Maga at CPAC: ‘There’s one choice’Read moreCPAC this year was seen as a crucial barometer of the likely contours of the 2024 fight. In that regard the majority of conservatives here aligned themselves closely with the former president. But they also chose not to relitigate the 2020 election and looked ahead to the 2024 contest, repeatedly calling Trump the former and future president.Attendees said they noticed the absence of a talking point that has in the past, including at last year’s CPAC, been pervasive.“There’s a lot of gaps in the topic list,” said Suzzanne Monk, a DC resident who donned a Maga hat and a T-shirt reading: “Don’t blame me, I voted for Trump.” “The election integrity issues are kind of soft. We could be hitting a lot harder.”While most speakers focused on issues other than election integrity, prominent election deniers were still given top billing. Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor who unsuccessfully ran for Arizona governor in 2022 and who continues to challenge both the results of her own election and the 2020 presidential election, was the keynote speaker at Friday night’s Ronald Reagan dinner.Though Lake didn’t bring up claims that Trump’s election was stolen, she dedicated many minutes to describing how her own election last November was rigged.“They stole that election,” she said, referring to Democrats. “The crime was committed in broad daylight on November 8. They sabotaged election day.”She claimed that Democrats “had to pump in hundreds of thousands of phony ballots” and specifically jammed tabulators in Republican precincts to cause long lines at the polls.“I will not stand by and let these bastards get away with it,” she said.The big lie also snuck its way into other mainstage speeches in small mentions and asides.Kimberly Guilfoyle, former Trump adviser and fiancee to Donald Trump Jr, declared that conservatives must “never let another election be stolen in this country”. Steve Bannon called out Fox News for “illegitimately calling” the race in November 2020 against Trump.In the event hallways, Bannon interviewed conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell, who was promoting an “election crime bureau”. Bannon said that some conservatives view election denialism as a losing issue, to which Lindell replied: “If you give it up, you lose your country.”On Saturday, Hogan Gidley, former press secretary under Trump and now vice-chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for Election Integrity, moderated a panel called They Stole it From Us Legally, which he said would focus on how to “make it easy to vote but hard to cheat”.Abe Hamadeh, an election denier who lost the race for Arizona attorney general in November, claimed that incompetence cost him the election.“What happened on election day is a disgrace to democracy,” he said, calling out what he said were major issues in Maricopa county. “But it ain’t over yet.”Hamadeh, like Lake, has challenged his loss in court and continues to claim that voters were disfranchised. “We need to make sure that there’s competency and people are held accountable,” he said.On the same panel, former Republican representative Lee Zeldin said that if Democrats are going to “ballot harvest”, conservatives need to lean in and do the same.“We’ve got to get out there and ballot harvest the heck out of the next election and they’re going to want to change that policy,” Gidley said, agreeing with Zeldin.Ahead of the panel on Saturday, Monk lamented that too many CPAC discussions focused on topics not as relevant to the conservative audience. “Look, I’m opposed to big tech censorship too, but I don’t think that’s the most pressing issue facing conservatives right now and I think the topics we’re listening to right now demonstrate kind of a soft pedaling rather than where I think these attendees are,” she said.Monk said she thinks Matt Schlapp, the chairman of CPAC who was recently accused of sexual misconduct by a Republican campaign staffer, “might be a little off the pulse”.“Long before Donald Trump and the 2020 election, we’ve had election integrity issues,” she added. “It’s very hard to prosecute election fraud, so we need to start. We need to fix that before we have elections.”But others were less concerned about the readiness to move on from 2020. “I’m not the type of person who thinks it was, per se, stolen,” said Orlando resident Luis Marrero.TopicsCPACUS politicsDonald TrumpRepublicansUS elections 2020US elections 2024featuresReuse this content More

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      Donald Trump vows to 'complete the mission' in bid to return to White House – video

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      The former US president has promised to ‘finish what we started’ in an address to supporters at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. Trump delivered the keynote speech, saying he was engaged in his ‘final battle’ as he tries to return to the White House. He left the Oval Office after a failed attempt to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, culminating in a deadly riot in the US Capitol

      ‘I am your retribution’: Trump rules supreme at CPAC as he relaunches bid for White House
      A diminished but loyal Trump Maga crowd at CPAC: ‘There’s one choice’ More

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      A diminished but loyal Trump Maga at CPAC: ‘There’s one choice’

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      A diminished but loyal Trump Maga crowd at CPAC: ‘There’s one choice’Trump might have lost some ground in the Republican party, but his core support is holding fast, even as some attendees expressed doubtIt fell to Steve Bannon, far-right podcaster and political pugilist, to wake up the crowd with a jolt.“Don’t fall for the primary stuff,” he urged in a fiery speech. “It’s not relevant. We don’t have time for on-the-job training [instead of] a man that gave us four years of peace and prosperity.”Trump’s war with DeSantis heats up with details of 2024 battle planRead moreWhat had been a low energy Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) erupted in cheers. It did so again when Bannon – who is facing four months in prison for contempt of Congress – assured them that “Donald J Trump” would win both the Republican nomination and US presidency in 2024. Finally, here was someone who was speaking the language of CPAC.But a glance at the convention centre ballroom revealed row upon row of empty seats. The “Make America Great Again” (Maga) movement, while vociferous as ever, appeared diminished in size. There was no doubt that former president Trump remained the big fish at the National Harbor in Maryland – but in a smaller pond.CPAC, which bills itself as the biggest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world, has been taking place for nearly half a century. After a pandemic-enforced move to Florida and Texas, it returned to the Washington area this week. But proximity to the capital was no guarantee of relevance. The list of Republicans who decided to stay away was as striking as those who showed up.CPAC impresario Matt Schlapp, who is battling a lawsuit over a sexual assault allegation, acknowledged on Thursday: “There’s a lot of chatter in the media about who’s here and not here.”The absentees included potential 2024 contenders such as Florida governor Ron DeSantis, Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, former vice-president Mike Pence and Senator Tim Scott. Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel were also missing.Even Fox News, once Trump’s loudest cheerleader, appeared to have given up the ghost and been supplanted by the more extreme and fringy Newsmax. Bannon railed against Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, vowing: “Murdoch, you’ve deemed Trump’s not going to be president. Well, we’ve deemed that you’re not going to have a network. Because we’re going to fight you every step of the way.”Fox News reportedly imposes ‘soft ban’ on Donald TrumpRead moreIt was a far cry from the days when CPAC commanded national headlines as the rehearsal dinner for Republican primary candidates. In 2015, the year before the last competitive Republican primary, the marquee event heard from nearly all the major candidates, including Jeb Bush.Nevertheless Nikki Haley, who launched her campaign last month, did venture into the lion’s den on Friday. Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations diplomatically avoided direct criticism of her old boss, though she did offer coded jabs.Noting that Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections, Haley said: “Our cause is right but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans. That ends now. If you’re tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation.”Although she received polite applause throughout her speech, there were numerous empty seats in the ballroom. And later several attendees chanted “Trump! Trump! Trump!” as she walked through the venue.Mike Pompeo, a former secretary of state who is also expected to launch a White House bid, was similarly oblique and subdued in taking on Trump. He said: “We can’t become the left, following celebrity leaders with their own brand of identity politics, those with fragile egos who refuse to acknowledge reality.”Both appearances underscored how no Republican has yet shown willingness to step into the ring and go toe to toe with Trump for fear of alienating his voter base. DeSantis has so far refused to engage while, in a recent interview, Scott admitted that he could not think of any policy differences with the former president.Meanwhile Trump, whom no one ever accused of being tormented by self-doubt, has forged ahead with campaign events, policy announcements and a visit to the scene of a toxic rail disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, that showed his populist touch has not entirely deserted him. Last month’s opinion polls showed him building momentum.‘You’re not forgotten‘: how the right racialized the Ohio train disasterRead moreCPAC, in effect a four-day Trump rally, is likely to provide a further sugar rush. He cruised to victory in its unscientific straw poll of more than 2,000 attendees with 62% of the vote, well clear of DeSantis on 20%. His speech drew by far the biggest crowd of the conference.A walk through the corridors revealed a plethora of “Make America great again” caps, “Bikers for Trump” vests and “Trump 45” sports jerseys, clustering around Maga podcasters such as Bannon, Sebastian Gorka and Mike Lindell. Trump’s son Don Jr spent hours broadcasting against the backdrop of a White House image.Downstairs, at the CPAC trade show, there was no escape from pro-Trump bobbleheads, caps, coins, dollar bills, dresses, flags, jewelry, sparkly purses, T-shirts and other products. A “DeSantis” cap with the Stars and Stripes sat beside a “Trump won” cap. A mock-up of the Oval Office featured a Trump photo, Maga cap and “Trump was right” sign sitting on a resolute desk ready made for photo ops.Interviews with more than a dozen attendees appeared to confirm the notion that, while Trump might have lost some ground in the Republican party, his core support is holding fast. Several expressed doubts over the validity of the 2020 election and none said the January 6 2021 insurrection was a deal breaker. Some spoke of nostalgia for the Trump economy.Theresa McManus, 67, a horse trainer and organic farmer from rural Virginia, said: “I liked my grocery bill. I’ve had to cut my herd of cows. I have a lot of friends who are pissed off because I can’t feed them anymore. My $30 bag of feed is now $75 a bag. This is ridiculous. My grocery bill: two little bags that were $10 or $20 are now $50 to $100.“Let’s just look at the economy. Look at the gas prices. Look at the food prices. He knew how to run this country. People didn’t like him because he was crass, because he was loud. You know what? I identify with that. I speak my mind, too, and it’s like, get out of my way.”Others continue to back the former president with a near religious zeal that will be difficult for primary opponents to penetrate. Asked why he likes Trump, Jason Jisa, from Dallas, Texas, corrected: “I love Trump. He puts America first. He puts the people of America first. He doesn’t sell us out to the globalists. He takes on the big dogs and he wins.”Jisa, 41, selling Trump merchandise, dismissed the potential threat from DeSantis. “Stay in Florida, stay in your lane. You can do it at a later time. He’s not the man for the job. He’s not up for it. I wouldn’t vote for him. If it’s not Trump, I won’t vote. There is no second choice. There’s one choice and that’s it. You can look at it as a spiritual thing: years ago, this situation we’re in now, has been foretold. We’re living out a prophecy and he’s the guy.”He was not alone in offering a scathing verdict of DeSantis that could foreshadow an ugly and divisive primary.Antwon Williams, 40, another merchandise trader from Columbia, South Carolina, said: “He’s being bought off. He was a Trumper and clearly now he has his own agenda. It’s like he used President Trump to get his name to where he needed to be and now all of a sudden he’s onto his own agenda now and that’s not cool.“Put it this way, DeSantis is to me is what Pence is to me: a traitor. Either you’re with us or you’re against us. Clearly Pence didn’t know the difference between that line and DeSantis is not understanding the difference between that line right now. I have nothing positive to say about him as long as he’s trying to run against us.”But others were more forgiving. A 40-year-old truck driver from Nashville, Tennessee, who gave his name only as James, said: “I love what DeSantis stands for. He is doing fantastic for the state of Florida. If there were not a Donald Trump in existence, I would be for Ron DeSantis as number one. Donald Trump is the man, the myth, the legend, the bomb. He is fantastic. I would love to see Trump-DeSantis on the ‘24 ticket.”Yet even in this Trump stronghold there were dissenting voices. Some argued that, while they admire his record as president, his myriad legal troubles, poor midterm election performance and boorish behaviour make him an electoral liability.Hylton Phillips-Page, 67, a retired investment manager from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, wants DeSantis to be the nominee. “He’s Trump without the circus,” he said. “I like Trump policies. I respect everything he’s done for us but there are too many people who will not vote for him.”Phillips-Page, who protested outside the US Capitol on 6 January, added: “I’m involved with the Republican party in a big way and I can tell you when I’m campaigning I meet lots of Republicans who tell me, ‘I’m not voting for Trump’.“It’s just a problem and I feel we really can’t afford to take that risk, quite frankly. I have no problem with Trump being president but, once he gets through the primary, DeSantis will have a much better shot at winning the general.”Kathleen Smero, 62, a supply chain analyst, favours Haley and Pompeo. “Nikki Haley has governor experience now as well as international experience of being ambassador. Mike Pompeo, of course, being secretary of state – the international defence skills are really important for being president.”But the 62-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland, added: “If Trump gets the nomination, I would vote for him. I believe in his policies. The rhetoric has been tiresome but I always support my candidate and I’ll always support President Trump if he gets the nomination.”Others are still undecided about their choice of Republican standard bearer. Wes Gregory, 34, a US marine veteran who is African American, said: “It will have to be a cross between DeSantis and Trump. They both care more about the people than themselves. They’re all about making America a better place.“Trump did it on the national level. DeSantis did it on the state level. Everyone’s moving down to Florida – everyone likes it. Trump did a lot of good stuff for the Black community, way more than any other president I can think of in my lifetime.”But if he had to choose between Trump and DeSantis? “Honestly, it would have to be a coin flip,” said Gregory, from Brunswick, Maryland. “They both have a proven track record of excellence.”TopicsCPACUS politicsDonald TrumpRon DeSantisRepublicansfeaturesReuse this content More

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      ‘I am your retribution’: Trump rules supreme at CPAC as he relaunches bid for White House

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      ‘I am your retribution’: Trump rules supreme at CPAC as he relaunches bid for White HouseFormer president claims Biden is leading America into ‘oblivion’ and that he could end the war between Russia and UkraineDonald Trump turned back the clock to the darkest elements of his presidency on Saturday with a fiery address that showed the threat to American democracy is far from over.After a lacklustre start to his campaign, Trump appeared to launch his White House bid in earnest with a vintage display of demagoguery that framed the 2024 election as “the final battle” for America.The former president, wearing dark suit, white shirt and trademark red tie, also declared war on his own Republican party to the delight of ardent fans in the crowd chanting “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and “USA! USA! USA!” Trump rival Nikki Haley seeks support from Republicans ‘tired of losing’Read moreOpinion polls suggest that Trump’s grip on the party is slipping in the wake of the 6 January 2021, insurrection and a disappointing midterm performance. But he continues to rule supreme at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), billed as the biggest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives.Feeding off the energy of a crowd that wore “Make America great again” (Maga) caps, and watched by Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, Trump returned to the authoritarian language that characterised his political rise seven years ago.“In 2016, I declared: I am your voice,” he said, speaking for just over 100 minutes from a bright blue and red stage in a cavernous ballroom at the closing speech of the CPAC event in Maryland. “Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution,” he said.Trump left office in disgrace after two impeachments and a failed attempt to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, culminating in a deadly riot at the US Capitol. He faces an array of criminal investigations yet announced another run for president last November at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.The subdued launch failed to deter rival Republicans rivals such as Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the UN, who has thrown her hat in the ring. Florida governor Ron DeSantis, seen as the most serious threat to Trump, opted out of CPAC and is instead meeting potential backers in California.The mood at CPAC, held at a convention centre at the National Harbor in Maryland, was sluggish for much of the week but on Saturday night the 45th president drew by far the biggest and noisiest crowd. “I didn’t know this was a rally, Matt,” Trump said at one point to CPAC impresario Matt Schlapp. “It really is a rally.”Perhaps stung by critics who say Trump has lost the swagger of his first campaign, Trump seemed determined to tap into supporters’ nostalgia and make the case that, together, they could rekindle the old magic. “For seven years you and I have been engaged in an epic struggle to rescue our country from the people who hate it and want to absolutely destroy it,” he said.“We are going to finish what we started. We started something that was a miracle. We’re going to complete the mission, we’re going to see this battle through to ultimate victory. We’re going to make America great again.”As the crowd erupted in cheers and chants of “Four more years!”, Trump cast the upcoming election in Manichean terms, returning to his us-versus-them rhetoric of old.“With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. We will expel the war mongers… We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists. We will throw off the political class that hates our country … We will beat the Democrats. We will rout the fake news media. We will expose and appropriately deal with the Rinos [Republicans in name only]. We will evict Joe Biden from the White House. And we will liberate America from these villains and scoundrels once and for all,” he said.Trump then sent a warning to the party that he has shaped in his own image in an effort to crush dissent. “We had a Republican party that was ruled by freaks, neocons, globalists, open border zealots and fools but we are never going back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove and Jeb Bush.”In a zigzagging speech, Trump avoided references to DeSantis but repeatedly turned his fire on Biden. “This is the most dangerous time in our country’s history, and Joe Biden is leading us into oblivion,” he said.Trump insisted that Russian’s Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine because of the US’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. “And you’re going to have world war three, by the way. We’re going to have world war three if something doesn’t happen fast. I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent world war three.”He made the unlikely boast: “Before I arrive in the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine ended… I know what to say.”Trump threw red meat to the base: additional border wall construction and a massive increase in border patrols to stop the flow of illegal drugs, one day voting with paper ballots, a crackdown on trans rights and gender affirmation surgeries. He repeated his false claim that he won the 2020 election “by a lot” when in fact Biden beat him by 7m votes.But before a cult-like crowd, Saturday’s event was a warning against Democratic complacency, an indicator that Trump is down but not out and that, just as in 2016, history could take a perilous turn. “We have no choice,” he said in a startling contrast to Biden’s pleas for unity, warning “this is the final battle.”He concluded: “If we don’t do this, our country will be lost forever.”TopicsDonald TrumpCPACUS politicsRepublicansUS elections 2024newsReuse this content More

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      All eyes on Trump as former president to address Maga Republicans at CPAC – live

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      It’s the last day of CPAC, and the day’s schedule is lined up with speakers including former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Colorado representative Lauren Boebert. But the largest spectacle has been saved for last – Donald Trump.With Trump due to address the conservative conference later this afternoon, fringe crowds have gathered to watch him promise to “Make America great again”, despite an overall thinning crowd this year compared to previous conferences.Over the past few days, several of Trump’s competitors of the 2024 presidential election made appearances at CPAC, including former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, as well as Trump’s former secretary of state Mike Pompeo.Nevertheless, Trump remains the most popular person in the room, with numerous supporters parading Maga merchandise across the conference as they await his appearance.As former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka said yesterday at the conference, CPAC is a gathering of the “hardcore Maga”.It’s been a lively day at CPAC so far and soon the right-wing carnival in Maryland will play host to Donald Trump as the former president gives the closing keynote speech at the multi-day event. We’ll have a live stream of his appearance, so stay with the blog.Here’s where things stand:
      Beyond CPAC, self-help author Marianne Williamson officially became the first Democrat to run for the presidency in 2024 in a challenge to US president Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. She kicked off another long-shot campaign in Washington, DC, earlier today. Leading Democrats, meanwhile, are lining up behind a Biden for a second term.
      Far right Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert threw around words like “woke” (a bad thing in her view, when it’s schools teaching America’s racial history) and “defund” (good in her view when it’s Republicans taking money away from what she considers sketchy federal agencies) when she took to the stage at CPAC.
      Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who was defeated by his comeback challenger from the left Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in recent elections, spoke at CPAC and condemned poverty, discrimination and environmental destruction – kidding, he condemned self-determination in gender identity, and gun safety laws.
      Donald Trump is last but not least of the speakers at CPAC today.
      The Texas Republican party has voted to censure House representative Tony Gonzales over his recent party-splitting votes in Congress.On Saturday, the State Republican Executive Committee voted 57-5 on the censure resolution.The censure resolution “cited his support for the bipartisan gun law that passed last year, as well as his vote for a bill codifying protections for same-sex marriage. The resolution also pointed to his vote against the House rules package in January and his opposition to a border security bill being pushed by fellow Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Austin,” the Texas Tribune reports.In a news conference on Thursday, Gonzales, a moderate Republican, defended his vote for the bipartisan gun law, saying, “I would vote twice on it if I could.”“The reality is I’ve taken almost 1,400 votes, and the bulk of those have been with the Republican Party,” he added.Self-help author Marianne Williamson has become the first Democrat to challenge president Joe Biden.“I, as of today, am a candidate for the office of president of the United States,” Williamson said in a campaign kickoff in Washington DC on Saturday, the Associated Press reports..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“We need to submit to the American people an agenda of fundamental economic reform, universal healthcare, tuition-free colleges at state colleges and universities, higher education including tech schools, paternity and maternity leave, free childcare and a guaranteed living wage,” Williamson said in her campaign video.
      “What the Democratic party should do is to truly return to the principles of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, not just alleviate people’s suffering but offer them genuine economic reform,” the New York Times bestselling author added.In 2019, Williamson announced her presidential campaign for the 2020 election but went on to suspend her campaign a year later and endorsed Bernie Sanders instead.“It’s time we get real leadership back in the White House, someone who actually cares about you and puts you first,” Boebert said as she praised Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.“We have just begun winning. We took back the House and I’m excited about our slim majority because that gave us leverage,” she added.“I can’t wait to drag the ‘[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] into oversight and remind them of [separation of power],” Boebert added.She went on to call for more secure borders and said that “we are not going to fund a borderless country…we are not going to fund tyranny,” she said.“We need to get more aggressive… There are many things we must do…that you American people have entrusted with,” said Colorado representative Lauren Boebert who has taken the stage following Lindell.“We are going to make sure that all of these agencies that have been working against you…have an audit and if there is any woke program in these agencies, it is immediately defunded,” she said.“We now fund the government as intended… This is our opportunity to not just get spending under control but to ensure that we have the right policies… Every diversity, equity, inclusion program…every woke initiative in our military must be uprooted and completely defunded,” she added.“We will demand schools stop teaching our children to hate their country, hate their classmate for the color of their skin… Every one of these agencies need an audit… The federal government has become too big,” Boebert said.“We want same-day voting, paper ballots, hand-counted. That’s going to save our country!” said Lindell as the crowd cheered. “One machine, one button…just like how you send Gmails into the abyss, that’s how you send your votes into the abyss,” he said about voting machines.“We are in the greatest revival for Jesus Christ in history,” Lindell went on to say.“If we don’t get rid of the machines, we’re going to lose our country to the world,” Lindell told crowds, referring to voting machines which he previously claimed resulted in voting errors and a ‘stolen’ election.CEO of MyPillow Mike Lindell is now due to address CPAC. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates.“I’ve always admired the American people. Brazil is important for the world. Today, more than one billion people depend on Brazil to be able to eat. We have mineral riches that few countries have in the world,” said Bolsonaro.“We have an abundant amount of drinkable water, we have an Amazon that belongs to us, Brazilians. I invite all of you to visit the Amazon forest. Please come to visit!” Bolsonaro added in his closing remarks.“Just like all of you, I will have the pleasure of watching Donald Trump come on stage. I was the last president in the world to recognize the results of the election in America two years ago… I am still faithful to our motto – God, homeland, faith and liberty,” said Bolsonaro as he ended his 15-minute address.“I don’t understand why the numbers reflected the opposite,” Bolsonaro said about Brazil’s 2022 election result which saw him lose to opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, despite him claiming to have far more supporters in 2022 than he did in 2018.“When we speak of conservatism, what we fight for are basic things – family. We don’t want gender ideology. We want children growing, looking up to their fathers, boys and girls looking up to their mothers,” he added.“In Brazil, private property is threatened. Private property is one of the pillars of democracy… In my government, I relaxed as much as I could regulations on gun ownership and in four years, we were able to reduce 1/3rd the amount of deaths by firearms in Brazil,” Bolsonaro continued.“I always said in Brazil, an armed people will never be enslaved. And an armed nation will never be subjugated. And it’s indispensable to tell all of you that my relationship with Donald Trump was simply exceptional. And now, we know, who is right. We are right or they are right?” he asked the crowd, to which it responded, “We are right!”“I thank God…for being the president of Brazil for one term…but I feel deep inside, this mission is not over,” Bolsonaro tells a whooping crowd at CPAC.“Populism, communism, corruption always dominated politics in Brazil,” he added as he detailed his campaign trail across Brazil, meeting supporters throughout the nation.“I always defended freedom, I did not force anyone to be vaccinated in Brazil,” Bolsonaro said about his management of the Covid-19 pandemic in his country as the crowd rose to standing ovation.“They keep saying science, science, science…but what I say is freedom, freedom, freedom,” he said, referring to medical experts in Brazil who advocated for the Covid-19 vaccine’s safety and efficacy.Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is expected to take the stage soon at CPAC. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates of his address.The white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes was removed from the conference, CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp said in an Instagram post yesterday.“We removed Nick Fuentes from his attempt to attend our conference. His hateful racist rhetoric and actions are not consistent with the mission of CPAC.”“We are pleased that our conference welcomes a wide array of conservative perspectives from people of different backgrounds, but we are concerned about the rise in antisemitic rhetoric (or Jew hatred) in our country and around the globe, whether it be in the corridors of power and academia or through the online rantings of bigots like Fuentes,” he added.Fuentes, who at point point dined with Trump and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is a notable figure among the extremist right and has previously spewed bigoted lies such as the denial of the Holocaust.I bumped into Nigel Farage, a British politician, broadcaster and demagogue, wandering the corridors and asked if he agrees with the conventional wisdom that CPAC feels flat and marginal this year.Farage, who has been coming to CPAC for a decade, suggested that the only thing missing is young people. “Trump is not new,” he observed. It’s true that student activists have been unusually thin on the ground here. Notably Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, a fixture in past years, is not among the speakers.Instead the big beast at CPAC is 69-year-old Steve Bannon, White House chief strategist turned far right podcaster. He seems to be broadcasting constantly on the Real America’s Voice channel from a stage set up just outside the ballroom that hosts the main stage.Bannon – who is appealing his conviction and four month prison sentence for contempt of Congress – talks combatively into a microphone with a noisy “Maga” crowd gathered behind him, often blocking the corridor for people trying to get by. There is often more energy here than in the conference sessions themselves.Today Bannon reprised his criticism of Fox News, “oligarch” Ken Griffin and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, his faint praise of Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pompeo as “good people” and his contention that, when it comes to the 2024 Republican primary election, there is no time for “on the job training”.He said Donald Trump had given America “four years of peace and prosperity”. No doubt the former president is grateful. But it does imply that CPAC 2023 is looking more to the past than the future.It’s the last day of CPAC, and the day’s schedule is lined up with speakers including former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Colorado representative Lauren Boebert. But the largest spectacle has been saved for last – Donald Trump.With Trump due to address the conservative conference later this afternoon, fringe crowds have gathered to watch him promise to “Make America great again”, despite an overall thinning crowd this year compared to previous conferences.Over the past few days, several of Trump’s competitors of the 2024 presidential election made appearances at CPAC, including former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, as well as Trump’s former secretary of state Mike Pompeo.Nevertheless, Trump remains the most popular person in the room, with numerous supporters parading Maga merchandise across the conference as they await his appearance.As former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka said yesterday at the conference, CPAC is a gathering of the “hardcore Maga”.Hello, US politics live blog readers, we have a special weekend edition of the blog today so we can bring you the happenings from the GOP’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington.Here’s what’s afoot:
      Defeated former Brazilian president and arch populist Jair Bolsonaro is in self-exile in the US and has been hanging out in Florida, but this afternoon he will address the CPAC event.
      The ultra-Maga programming will then continue with the crowd being addressed by Trump zealot, conspiracy theorist, 2020 election result denier and pillow seller Mike Lindell, followed by far right Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert.
      Moderate Republican-turned-mega-Maga stan, and New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik will be next.
      Donald Trump is the star, closing speaker at CPAC, due on stage at 5.25pm ET, but could well be late. We’ll have a live stream. More

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      Rightwing Republicans rail against US aid for Ukraine: ‘We’ve done enough’

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      Rightwing Republicans rail against US aid for Ukraine: ‘We’ve done enough’War emerges as a wedge issue in the forthcoming Republican primary election as far right at CPAC call for US to end supportMarjorie Taylor Greene, an influential far-right Republican in Congress, has called for the US to stop aid to Ukraine, giving added voice to a grassroots revolt in the party that threatens bipartisan support for the war against Russia’s Vladimir Putin.The Georgia congresswoman is a notorious provocateur who has made racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic statements and promoted bizarre conspiracy theories.Marjorie Taylor Greene keeps rising in Republican ranks despite ‘loony lies’Read moreYet she has emerged as a prominent voice in the House of Representatives after forging a bond with the speaker, Kevin McCarthy, who vowed that Republicans will not write a “blank cheque” for Ukraine.Greene told the Guardian that Joe Biden is “putting the entire world at risk of world war three”, a view widely held at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), America’s biggest annual gathering of conservatives.“I think the US should be pushing for peace in Ukraine instead of funding and continuing a war that seems to be escalating and putting the entire world at risk of world war three,” Greene said during CPAC at the National Harbor in Maryland on Friday.Greene called for US funding to cease immediately, insisting that, while she voted for a resolution to support the Ukrainian people and condemning Russia’s invasion, “we are actually accelerating a war there”.She added: “We should be promoting peace. Europe should have peace and the United States should do their part. Ukraine is not a Nato member nation and Joe Biden said in the beginning he would not defend Ukraine because they’re not a Nato member nation. It doesn’t make sense and the American people do not support it.”A year after Russia’s unprovoked invasion, the US has provided four rounds of aid to Ukraine, totaling about $113bn, with some of the money going toward replenishment of US military equipment that was sent to the frontlines.The two leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, former president Donald Trump and the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, have both expressed scepticism about the Ukraine cause. Opinion polls also show an erosion of public support.The conflict was mostly absent from speeches on the main stage at CPAC, once the home of cold warrior Ronald Reagan but now a stronghold for the isolationist “America first” wing of the Republican party. Nikki Haley, a former ambassador to the UN who is running for president, and Mike Pompeo, an ex-secretary of state weighing his own run, gave the subject a wide berth in their addresses.But outside the cavernous ballroom with its glitzy red, white and blue stage, neat rows of seats and banks of TV cameras, there was less circumspection and more crowd congestion. The rightwing podcaster and former White House strategist Steve Bannon repeatedly railed against the war in Ukraine before a noisy gathering of fans.On Friday he was joined by Matt Gaetz, a Florida congressman who recently put forward a “Ukraine Fatigue” resolution in the House. Gaetz warned of the dangers of Russia’s nuclear arsenal and the threat of a third world war and said: “Zelinskiy’s new zeal for anti-corruption efforts and oversight seems to directly align with Republicans taking over the House of Representatives.”Bannon rejoined: “Every Republican who supports this murderous war in Ukraine should be turfed out.”Interviews with more than a dozen CPAC attendees elicited similar views and, in some cases, sympathy for Putin. Theresa McManus, wearing a cowboy hat and jacket, and a riding skirt patterned with words from the US constitution, said forcefully: “I like Putin. I think he’s got balls and he’s taking care of his country.”What to expect from this year’s CPAC: Biden bashing, 2024 Republican primary chatter and lawsuit gossipRead moreRepeating a Kremlin talking point that people in the Donbas region want to be liberated from Ukraine, the 67-year-old horse trainer from rural Virginia continued: “No, we shouldn’t give them any more money. No, we should not be involved with them. They should not be part of Nato.”Paul Brintley, 50, ambassador for the North Carolina Faith & Freedom Coalition, described Putin as “not so much a dictator” and said of Ukraine: “I don’t think we should be the police of the world. I don’t think we should bankroll them. We’ve done enough.”Some at CPAC hew to conspiracy theories about the war. Jason Jisa, 41, from Dallas, Texas, said: “Show me where you’re sending the money. Show me war footage. Go look at all the previous wars: Afghanistan, Iraq, we’re flooded. We’re shown video of it every single day. You don’t see hardly any video come from Ukraine. Why? Where are the camera crews?”Jisa, owner of the “USA Trump Store”, added: “Where’s the money going? Why are we on the hook for them? Why, while we have veterans in the street, we have homeless people all over the place, we have inflation going crazy, are we going to send billions and billions and billions of dollars?”Ukraine is emerging as a wedge issue in the looming Republican primary election. Trump, who launched his campaign last November, has repeatedly called for an end to hostilities and claimed that, if he were to return to the Oval Office, he could end the war “within 24 hours”.DeSantis, another potential contender, was viewed as a foreign policy hawk who embraced tough rhetoric against Putin while he served in Congress. But he has increasingly adopted a similar tone as he courts Trump’s populist base, though he did not attend CPAC.But former vice-president Mike Pence, widely expected to launch a bid for the White House in the coming months, has called for Washington to intensify support for Ukraine and insisted that “there can be no room in the leadership of the Republican Party for apologists for Putin”. This stance is shared by the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, and others in the party establishment.Neither Pence nor McConnell came to CPAC, which some critics argue is losing relevance as it fails to shake off Trump. Hylton Phillips-Page, 67, a retired investment manager from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, described Putin as a “thug” but admitted “mixed feelings” over continued aid for Ukraine.“I don’t think our support can forever be at the expense of our own country. I would be quite OK with our Congress saying: until you finish the wall and protect our own border, you shouldn’t be protecting somebody else’s border. I’m not opposed to supporting them but I would like us to do some stuff at home.”Antwon Williams, 40, from Columbia, South Carolina, who was selling Trump merchandise, said: “America needs to worry about the troops that we have, our veterans that need our help here in America, instead of writing an unlimited cheque to these people out here,” he said.“No offence to them [Ukrainians]. It’s horrible what they’re going through. No one wants to see anyone hurting and dying out there. But we have our own veterans that fought for America and our freedom that is hurting, that is homeless, that is needing help, who have mental issues and who are starving right here in America.”TopicsCPACUS politicsUkraineRepublicansUS foreign policyfeaturesReuse this content More

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      CPAC: Nikki Haley calls out Republicans’ failure to win voters’ confidence – live

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      Many, many things have changed in American politics since 2016, but one thing has stayed the same – Donald Trump’s position as the most popular man in the Republican party.He’s been in a commanding position among Republicans ever since clinching its presidential nomination more than six years ago, and that dynamic hasn’t meaningfully changed in the years since. Case in point: the latest batch of opinion polls show him essentially blowing all the other potential contenders for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination out of the water.As Sebastian Gorka made clear at the start of today’s events, CPAC is very much a convention of the “hardcore Maga”. Trump speaks tomorrow, but his most powerful presumed challenger next year, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, isn’t showing up at all. Instead, CPAC attendees will today hear from Nikki Haley, who is running next year, and Mike Pompeo, Trump’s former secretary of state who is expected to launch a campaign.CPAC attracts conservatives from across the country. We’ll try to let you know what they think of Trump’s challengers, and whether they agree that – after all that’s happened – he remains the best man to lead the GOP.Steve Bannon just got off stage after an enthusiastic, 15-minute defense of Donald Trump that was the best received speech of the day.Bannon, a former White House adviser who is appealing a federal prison sentence for ignoring a subpoena from the January 6 committee, won more applause than any speaker before him by singing the former president’s praises and attacking Fox News for ignoring Trump.“Donald J. Trump, let me repeat, in a very volatile time in American history, it was four years of peace and prosperity,” he said, to loud applause, “You know why? He puts you in the room to make decisions.”“And that’s why they hate him,” Bannon continued. “They don’t hate him because he’s Trump. They hate him because he represents you.”He then attacked Fox News for not giving the former president enough coverage. “Note to Fox senior management: when Donald J. Trump talks it’s newsworthy,” Bannon declared.“Maga, Maga, Maga. Remember, Murdoch, you deem Trump’s not going to be president, well we deem that you’re not going to have a network,” Bannon declared as he wrapped up his speech.Conservatives at CPAC today heard from one Republican presidential contender, Nikki Haley, and another potential contender, Mike Pompeo. But the convention remains very much Donald Trump’s show.“I’m still sticking with Trump,” said Gary Wolcott, a 69-year-old retiree from the Virginia suburbs near Washington DC. He acknowledged that Haley’s speech “was definitely impressive, and Pompeo’s, too”. But neither dissuaded him from the support he’s maintained for Trump since his first days as a candidate in 2015.“I just believe he’s the person who is most for America, and he gave up a lot to run for president. He’s not a career politician, and I know he’s always going to try to do what he thinks is best for America,” Wolcott said.Karen and Donald Ruthig’s sentiments were much the same.“He gets things done,” Karen, 77, said of Trump. As for the other candidates, “Maybe they’re wanting to run for vice? I don’t know, but I don’t think they can make it as president.”Her husband, Donald, called Pompeo’s speech “fabulous”, but Haley’s “predictable”. He didn’t think either could win. “I don’t think Nikki Haley is electable. I don’t think Mike Pompeo is electable, and I’m not even sure that Ron DeSantis is at this point,” he said, referring to the Florida governor who is seen as probably the second strongest contender to Trump among Republicans.Donald, a 73 year old who was attending the convention along with his wife from Virginia’s rural eastern shore, worried that if the GOP nominates anyone but Trump, many voters will stay home. “Without Trump’s complete base, we haven’t got a prayer,” he said. “So while there may be some very good candidates in the field, the electability issue (makes) him front and center.”As enduring as his support was for Trump, Wolcott called on the former president to change tactics as he navigates his second GOP primary.“His liability is, he’s got to stop bashing Republicans. He needs to explain why he’s good, not why they’re bad. So long as he can do that he will easily win the presidency. I’m not sure he can do it,” he said.The White House this afternoon decried Tennessee’s aggressive move to limit drag shows in the state.The state’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, yesterday signed a bill passed by the legislature that restricts public drag show performances – the first state to do that this year, CNN reported.The law limits “adult cabaret performances” on public property, defining such as a show “that features topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, or similar entertainers.”At the White House press briefing on Friday afternoon, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “American people are focussed on so many issues..the economy..healthcare..safety in schools” and lamented Republicans’ targeting activities like drag shows as their priority instead.“Going after drag shows, how is that going to help people’s lives?” she asked. KJP is the first out gay White House press secretary.She added that these “ridiculous policies” are “dangerous. They vilify our fellow Americans at a time when LGBTQ Americans are facing heightened violence.”Joe Biden has the backs of LGBTQ Americans, she noted, “and will continue to be there for the community.”Earlier this month, famous Tennessee drag queens, including Eureka and Jaidynn Diore Fierce spoke up to Entertainment Weekly, with Eureka calling the bill “blatantly unconstitutional.”They talked to a competitor on this season’s Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and now fellow Tennessean, Aura Mayari, who said she was deeply upset and saddened by the push and said the law was nothing more than “a mask used to hide discrimination toward the LGBTQ+ community and the desire to erase drag.”Jaidynn Diore Fierce for all stars / lipsync assassin when? pic.twitter.com/H8XnYY7qTQ— ᴅʀᴀɢᴍᴇᴛᴏꜰɪʟᴛʜ ◡̈ (@dragmetofilth) February 8, 2023
      This feels like the year when CPAC’s centre of gravity shifted from Fox News to Newsmax – more extreme, more fringey and less relevant.Fox News personnel are thin on the ground as the network, embroiled in crisis over its part in pushing Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud, tilts away from him towards rival Ron DeSantis.Meanwhile Chris Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax, was fawningly interviewed on stage by CPAC co-organiser Mercedes Schlapp. Adverts for Newsmax are running regularly on screens here.CPAC is teeming with Trump loyalists. Donald Trump Jr, Steve Bannon, Mike Lindell and Sebastian Gorka are causing crowd congestion as the live stream and podcast loudly cluster outside the main ballroom.Such scenes might symbolise how Trump has lost Fox News but dominates the likes of Newsmax, One America News Network and far right social media. Fox no longer carries his rallies live whereas those channels do – with smaller audiences.It could be good news for DeSantis, a regular on Fox, as he seeks to command the Republican base and banish Trump to the margins.Fox News reportedly imposes ‘soft ban’ on Donald TrumpRead moreHere are some more bits and pieces from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s interaction with reporters at CPAC.She called on everyone in the Republican party to support the eventual nominee for president in 2024 – something that former president Donald Trump seems unlikely to do.But Greene confirmed that she is endorsing Trump, saying she talks to him “every week” and “I absolutely adore him”.The Guardian asked: “Would you be his running mate?” Greene replied: “We haven’t really engaged. That’s up to President Trump who he chooses.”Questioned about her message to former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and other potential candidates, she added: “Well, it’s nice that they’re running but they’re not going to win. President Trump is going to be the primary. I don’t know what they’re doing it for in the first place.”And Greene said of Ron DeSantis: “I think he is a fantastic governor for the state of Florida and, at the snail’s pace things get done here in Washington, if I were Florida, I’d give him a third term and beg him to stay as governor.”Rightwing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene just held an impromptu question and answer session with a group of reporters at CPAC – who therefore paid little attention to Kimberly Guilfoyle’s speech from the nearby stage.The Guardian asked the first couple of questions. Greene, an influential figure in the House of Representative, said: “I think the US should be pushing for peace in Ukraine instead of funding and continuing a war that seems to be escalating and putting the entire world at risk of world war three.”The Republican from Georgia called for US funding to cease immediately. “Look, I voted for the resolution to support the Ukrainian people and against what Russia has done invading their country. But what the United States is doing is we are actually accelerating a war there and this war should be over.“We should be promoting peace. Europe should have peace and the United States should do their part. Ukraine is not a Nato member nation and Joe Biden said in the beginning he would not defend Ukraine because they’re not a Nato member nation. It doesn’t make sense and the American people do not support it.”Later Greene added that Biden is more interested in Ukraine’s border than America’s own or the victims of a toxic rail disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. She also floated an unfounded conspiracy theory that Biden’s son Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine is likely underpinning the president’s motivations there.“Does that play a role in Joe Biden’s commitment to Zelenskiy as if Zelinskiy and Ukraine is the 51st state of the United States of America?… Is that why we’re all going to be dragged into World War three? And I’m sorry, I’m not going on that train and most Americans – pretty much everyone I talk to – is not interested in that either.”In the final days of the Trump administration, after he had lost the 2020 election, then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo declared that “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”Pompeo seems to have acknowledged reality in the years since, and stated the grim truth about the GOP’s recent election record in his speech at CPAC today. Here’s a clip:Potential GOP presidential candidate Mike Pompeo, who declared in November 2020 that there would be a “second Trump administration” even after the election was called for Biden, seems to acknowledge Trump’s loss at CPAC:“We lost three elections in a row.” pic.twitter.com/C2AixiOdXf— The Recount (@therecount) March 3, 2023
      He later appeared to throw some shade at his former boss:Potential GOP presidential candidate Mike Pompeo signals some new distance from Donald Trump:“We can’t become the left, following celebrity leaders with their own brand of identity politics; those with fragile egos who refuse to acknowledge reality.” pic.twitter.com/maZP39yVyE— The Recount (@therecount) March 3, 2023
      Still no word yet from Pompeo on whether he plans to run for the GOP nomination next year.At the Conservative Political Action Conference today, Republicans who are not Donald Trump are trying their best to convince the audience to give them a shot in 2024. Up first was his former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who argued that the GOP’s struggle to win the popular vote in recent elections is a sign the party needs a change in leadership. And then she walked out of the speech venue to crowds of conservatives chanting “Trump! Trump! Trump!” That’s how it goes when you’re not on his side at a conference were Maga rules supreme. We’ll see if candidate Vivek Ramaswamy or Mike Pompeo, who hasn’t announced a run for president yet but is seen as a potential candidate, have better luck with the crowd.Here’s a recap of the day’s events:
      A call to defund the police was a surprise applause line at CPAC.
      Rightwing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to make providing gender-affirming care to minors a felony.
      Democrats remain behind Joe Biden, if the statements of House lawmakers are any indication.
      CPAC is a tough place for Republicans who are not on Donald Trump’s side.Following her speech, Nikki Haley stepped outside the venue to greet conservative attendees – who made their preference for next year’s GOP presidential nomination clear, as this video from Bloomberg News shows:Crowd chanting “Trump!” as Nikki Haley take photos with supporters after her CPAC speech. pic.twitter.com/iI7WSKSwT9— Christian Hall (@christianjhall) March 3, 2023
      The parade of speeches by former Trump officials continues with Mike Pompeo, who served as secretary of state from 2018 to 2021.He’s thought to be considering a run for the White House next year, but hasn’t yet said one way or the other. Let’s hear what he has to say.Nikki Haley has a tall order in overcoming the former president’s popularity among Republicans.The latest polls have shown her support well below that of Trump’s. Here’s one from Yahoo News/YouGov, which shows Trump in the lead with 45% support, against Haley’s 4%.Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, is surely aware of where she would end up if the Republican primary were held today. As she closed out her speech, she appealed to the audience to consider an alternative to the former president.“We’ve lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans. That ends now. If you’re tired of losing, then put your trust in a new generation. And if you want to win – not just as a party, but as a country – then stand with me,” Haley said.Nikki Haley is now on stage at CPAC, and started her stump speech off by reiterating her call for politicians over the age of 75 to take a mental competency test.“When I launched my campaign, I said every politician over 75 years old should be required to take a mental competency test. Have you seen DC lately? We should start with Joe Biden – and we shouldn’t stop there,” she said. The last part seemed to stir a murmur of disapproval from the audience, considering that Donald Trump is 76, and would also be subject to one of these tests.Many seats noticeably empty.At CPAC at National Harbor in Maryland. Nikki Haley enters to standing ovation but also many empty seats. “The liberal media’s head are exploding about me running for president… Liberals are the most sexist by far.” pic.twitter.com/u7SZOZUCqu— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) March 3, 2023
      At their retreat in Baltimore this week, House Democrats voiced enthusiasm about Joe Biden‘s likely reelection campaign, with the president expected to formally announce his 2024 bid in the next several weeks.“I think he will win. I think he’s our strongest candidate,” congressman Pete Aguilar, the House Democratic caucus chair, said Thursday at an event with Punchbowl News. Aguilar added, “I think that he can and should run, and he’s going to have the support of the House Democratic caucus.”Even House progressives, who have previously clashed with Biden over policy concerns, appear to be rallying behind the president. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Thursday that she hopes Biden will announce his reelection campaign sooner rather than later.“Nobody is surprised that Biden was not my choice in the first election for the primary,” Jayapal said. “But the CPC and the President and his administration have formed an incredibly strong partnership.”The mayor of a Maryland city has resigned after authorities arrested him on charges of possessing and distributing images of child sexual abuse, according to multiple reports.Patrick Wojahn, 47, had been the mayor of College Park since 2015 and, before that, a member of the city council there for eight years when he was arrested Thursday. He had submitted his resignation later the previous night, as the local news outlet WBAL reported, but that did little to head off the scandal that his arrest ignited, drawing headlines nationally.Charging documents cited by the local news station WTOP accused Wojahn of using an anonymous account to upload child abuse imagery to the mobile messaging application Kik in January. Kik officials then alerted the federal missing and exploited children center, which prompted police to subpoena internet service providers’ records that linked the uploads to Wojahn.Local county investigators searched Wojahn’s home in February, and they seized cell phones, a tablet, a computer and a storage device before Thursday’s arrest.Wojahn faces 40 counts of possessing child abuse imagery and 16 of distributing it.College Park has a population of about 35,000 and is just northeast of Washington DC. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wojahn’s arrest shocked the city’s residents.Local resident Drake Allen said he feared the scandal showed that College Park was “headed in the wrong direction”.“I don’t know if this is going to wake anybody up. It should, but it probably won’t,” Allen said, before describing how he wishes Wojahn’s successor is “just a regular mayor who does his job.”On stage at CPAC now is Donald Trump Jr, who came bearing gifts.“There’s a little surprise for all of you,” he told the audience. “Check under your seats. If there happens to be a gold chocolate bar underneath there … that’s a VIP ticket to my father’s reception tomorrow at CPAC,” the former president’s son said.Wonder what Roald Dahl would think of that. More

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      Nikki Haley seeks support from Republicans ‘tired of losing’ at CPAC

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      00:50 Nikki Haley seeks support from Republicans ‘tired of losing’ at CPACEx-UN ambassador and 2024 contender presents herself as face of ‘new generation’ in pitch to crowd still largely wed to TrumpRepublican presidential candidate Nikki Haley ventured onto Donald Trump stomping grounds on Friday, seeking support from rank-and-file Republicans who are “tired of losing”.In remarks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside of Washington DC, Haley presented herself as the face of a “new generation” of Republican leaders, making her pitch to a crowd still largely wed to Trump, her 76-year-old former boss and rival for the party’s nomination..Trump’s war with DeSantis heats up with details of 2024 battle planRead more“We’ve lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections,” Haley said. “Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans. That ends now.”Haley, 51, highlighted her conservative victories as governor of South Carolina and UN ambassador during the Trump administration, vowing as president to “renew an America that’s strong and proud – not weak and woke”.Playing to the audience of conservative activists, Haley spent much of her speech slamming the subjects that dominate outrage on the right: Joe Biden, socialism and the liberal media.“In case you didn’t notice, the liberal media’s heads are exploding about my run for president,” she said. “We all know why. The media can’t stand that I’m a conservative. Think about it. I’m a woman – a minority – and the daughter of immigrants. I am proof that liberals are wrong about everything they say about America.”One of her loudest applause lines was when Haley, after describing herself as the “first minority female governor in history”, declared, as she has in the past: “America is not a racist country!”Haley also lashed out at Don Lemon of CNN after he suggested she was past her “prime”. He later expressed regret for the comment. (Her campaign is selling beer koozies that say “Past my prime?” and “Hold my beer”.)After finishing her speech, Haley waded into the crowd in the main hall of the venue. As she posed for photos with supporters, some attendees heckled her, shouting: “We love Trump” and “Rino”, a derogatory label for conservatives viewed as insufficiently loyal. It stands for “Republican in name only”.Haley never mentioned Trump by name, and has been careful to avoid direct criticism of him since launching her bid for president. In a recent interview, she pledged to support him if he were to win the nomination.Haley was the first major Republican candidate to challenge Trump for the Republican nomination. But she was not the only potential aspirant to speak at the conservative gathering. Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech multimillionaire and author who announced his candidacy for president, was also scheduled to speak at the conference following another 2024 hopeful, Trump’s former secretary of state Mike Pompeo.Trump will headline the event with an hour-long speech on Saturday evening.But once a magnet for Republican rising stars, CPAC will not hear from several possible 2024 hopefuls this year. The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to announce a run for president in the coming months, is skipping the conservative conference and is instead slated to appear at a dueling event hosted by the conservative Club For Growth in Florida this weekend.Also absent are potential presidential aspirants were former vice-president Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem.Public opinion surveys underscore Haley’s uphill climb to winning the Republican nomination. She trails far behind Trump and DeSantis, hovering at around 5%, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.That enduring affection for Trump was on full display at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, underscoring the challenge his rivals face as they vie for the nomination.Attendees wearing “Trump 2024” hats and “Trump was right” T-shirts posed for pictures in an Oval Office replica. “Trump’s rump” was bedazzled on the backside of one woman’s jeans. And the former president is all but certain to win the unscientific presidential straw poll of CPAC attendees, as he did last year.“I made up my mind on November 3, 2020 and haven’t changed it since,” said Donna Shannen of Pennsylvania, who was attending her first CPAC along with Dawn Bancroft. Both derided Haley as a “traitor” for condemning Trump’s role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.They saw Haley’s attempts to soften those comments later as a sign of “weakness” and hypocrisy. But Shannen said she’d give Haley more credit if she directly challenged Trump, rather than trying to have it both ways with veiled criticism and overt praise.“If she can’t even attack her own opponents in her own party, how is she going to attack Kim Jong-Un or Xi Jinping,” she said.Haley did resonate with some attendees. Leaving the ballroom after her remarks, several young women said they were inspired by her message, her foreign policy experience – and the possibility of electing the first female president.“I think she is a way better candidate than Trump would be. I don’t think he can win,” said Ashleigh Dyson, a college student at St Mary’s College of Maryland,, who said it “crazy” that the US has never elected a woman to the White House.Chiming in, Carolyn Wilson, also a student at St Mary’s College of Maryland said she believed Haley could win over independent and swing voters who recoiled from Trump during his presidency. She added that being a woman will likely help Haley navigate a bare-knuckled primary race.“She’s used to that pushback,” Wilson said, noting that there was a man in the audience who booed Haley as she spoke. “She didn’t even bat an eye!”TopicsCPACNikki HaleyRepublicansUS politicsUS elections 2024Donald TrumpnewsReuse this content More