Trump's clout felt as strong as ever over a decade after his first CPAC address in 2011, even as its pull within the Republican Party has appeared to wane with multiple likely 2024 GOP hopefuls such as GovRonDeSantis skipping the annual confab.
Throngs of CPAC-goers decorated themselves with MAGA apparel, while memorabilia for other 2024 hopefuls were all but nonexistent. Trump's clout felt as strong as ever over a decade after his first CPAC address in 2011, even as its pull within the Republican Party has appeared to wane with multiple likely 2024 GOP hopefuls such as Gov. Ron DeSantis skipping the annual confab.
“Trump should be the president currently. … We see the energy that is going forward right now,” Kevin Alan, who hosts the Kevin Alan Show podcast, said before pivoting to the GOP primary. “Trump's going to kick the daylights out of all those great people, and they're all going to unite at the end.” But with DeSantis and a handful of other prominent conservatives forgoing the event, Trump has remained the rage. But the possible candidates weren't the only people missing from CPAC.
CPAC has been engulfed in controversy over the sexual misconduct allegations surrounding its organizer Matt Schlapp — accusations he firmly denies. But there’s a broader unease about CPAC within some conservative circles, as moderates in the movement grumble it has lurched too far to the right and devolved into a Trump cult.“I think this is just the media causing controversy,” Hector Garced, a New York resident, said about divisions in the movement, particularly between Trump and DeSantis.
Navigating CPAC has previously proven to be a political minefield for some Republicans out of favor with the activist base of the movement. In 2015, former Gov. Jeb Bush was rumored to have bused supporters to the conference to buoy himself and weathered jeers of dissent during his address. ”It’s a little less MAGA than previous years ... just in terms of seeing gear, in terms of hats, in terms of seeing shirts — it’s a little less Trumpy than in years past,” he said. “Usually, it’s excessive. This year, it’s more tamed down.”
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