The former president of the United States Donald Trump (2017-2021) confirmed this Saturday the fracture of the Republican Party in the speech with which he closed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), in which he launched several darts against colleagues from the political formation.
Until now the CPAC had been considered the largest annual gathering of conservatives in the US, but This year it has been reduced to a Trumpist forum with the absence of weight figures Republicans and this was evident in Trump’s words.
He claimed that his training was dominated, before he came to the White House, by “a group of frikis, neoconservatives, fanatical globalists of open borders and fools…”.
“We will never be the match of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove and Jeb Bush again”referring to former leaders of the Republicans known for their moderation (Ryan was Speaker of the House, Rove was an adviser to former President George W. Bush and Jeb Bush was Governor of Florida).
at another time, criticized “entrenched political dynasties in both parties” and addressed the head of the Republicans in the Upper House, Mitch McConnell.
“Mitch McConnell is listening,” the ex-president mocked.
Laterregretted that the democrats are unitedwhich, in his opinion, has prevented the president of the country, Joe Bidenor his son Hunter have been held accountable for alleged crimes of corruption that Trump claimed they have committed without providing any evidence.
“Democrats stick together, they don’t have a Mitt Romney, they don’t have values”he complained in reference to the former Republican presidential candidate and senator from Utah who has distanced himself on numerous occasions from Trumpism.
Trump failed to fill CPAC auditoriumwhich this year has been quite lackluster, with a main room that is more than half empty in most of the presentations.
Among the audience for the speech of the former US president were the former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and his son Eduardo Bolsonarofederal representative, who had intervened before Trump.
In fact, at the beginning of his speech, Trump greeted Bolsonaro and his “friend” Eduardo.
Most of the attendees were convinced of the Trumpist cause, the Republican leader laughed at the jokes and they interrupted him on several occasions with their shouts and cheers.
Otherwise, Trump went through some of his favorite topics: He attacked Justice for the numerous investigations opened against him; He denounced misinformation by attacking “fake news”, as he often refers to the traditional media, although he often embellishes his speeches with falsehoods; and he criticized how the withdrawal from Afghanistan was carried out.
Also he chested out of his relationship with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the Chinese, Xi Jinping. In that sense, he bragged that Russia did not take any countries during his tenure because he got along “very well with Putin.”
Throughout his tenure, Trump showed more affinity with leaders like Putin, Bolsonaro or the North Korean, Kim Jong-Unwith whom he had an epistolary exchange, than with his country’s traditional allies such as the European Union or Canada.
In this way, with a speech of one hour and 45 minutes, the former president closed the CPAC, that has been developed between Wednesday and this Saturday at the National Harbor Convention Center, on the outskirts of Washington.
The absences and accusations of sexual abuse by its organizer, Matt Schlapp, a Trump ally, have tarnished this year’s edition, where Republican figures such as the leaders of the party in Congress, Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, have been missing; or “presidential” politicians, such as former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Trump announced in November that is going to run for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election and in his words this Saturday he made numerous allusions to his hypothetical return to power, although first he will have to convince the militants of his party, beyond his staunch supporters.
The ex-president earned the applause of his people, assuring that if he returns to power he will tackle inflation and crack down on gender-affirming treatmentsone of the causes in which the republicans of several states are committed, in a nod to the evangelical Christians.
Knowledgeable of its base, the CPAC, in factwill close its doors this Saturday with a mass after Trump’s speech.