Presidential hopefuls often make the trip to CPAC because the meeting is seen as the biggest and most important for conservative Republicans. Before, the CPAC conference brought together larger parts of the Republican Party. Now it has become a meeting place mostly for those who support the former president. Several of Trump’s expected challengers were not present this year. Sean Spicer was President Trump’s first White House press secretary. Photo: Tove Bjørgaas / news Sean Spicer, Trump’s former press spokesperson, believes the Republican field will be ready in July. In August, the first presidential duel will be held among the Republicans. – I think eight, nine people will challenge Trump, says Spicer to news. Booths selling political effects during the conservative CPAC gathering. Photo: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / Reuters The four-day conference was packed with politicians who support Trump. Kari Lake, who lost her bid to become Arizona governor, and Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro were among those who complained, saying the victory had been stolen from them. To great applause. Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was received with several rounds of standing ovation when he spoke at the conference for conservative politicians in the United States. Photo: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP – CPAC is the best gathering of patriots and Trump supporters, says one of the participants, James Manchip from Virginia. He believes he finds people from all over the world here, who want to see what happens in “conservative, freedom-loving grassroots organisations”. – How do you see the Republican Party’s process to find a presidential candidate? – President Donald Trump is running for re-election. The opposing candidates do not have the same opportunities as in 2016, says Manchip. A mixture of political speeches and folk festival. Here are Trump supporters with Ryan Woods, known as “Lady Maga USA”. Photo: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / Reuters Nevertheless, Manchip singles out Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis, who was re-elected by a good margin last autumn. – He does a good job in Florida, but is controlled by RINOs (Republican in name only; used for people who are not conservative enough and who go beyond the party’s main lines, editor’s note). – Trump haters hope for DeSantis, but mentally he is not in the RINO camp. He can therefore become a good vice-presidential candidate, believes Manchip. Ron DeSantis was fundraising in Texas and California as the CPAC crowd worshiped Donald Trump. DeSantis has not announced he is running. James Manchip has dressed up as America’s first president, George Washington, and attends the conservative CPAC meeting. Photo: Tove Bjørgaas / MRK Dressed as George Washington, Manchip warns against innovations that threaten the constitution. Manchip is among the election deniers who do not believe in the results, and who believe that electronic voting machines were manipulated in 2020 to give victory to the Democrats. The election result has been tried in court in several states, without being overturned. The result has also been approved by Congress. Facts about Donald Trump’s presidency Donald Trump was president of the United States for four years until he lost re-election in 2020 and had to leave the White House. Trump was elected president in November 2016, with Hillary Clinton as the opposite candidate for the Democrats. He won the election with 306 to 232 electoral delegates, but almost 3 million fewer votes than Clinton. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States in January 2017. During his presidency, he implemented a wide range of controversial measures, including a ban on immigration from Muslim countries, the construction of a wall against Mexico and withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization. One of his most important victories was to appoint three conservative justices to the Supreme Court. He also appointed a number of other conservative federal judges. He also started a trade war with China, introduced a comprehensive tax reform with tax cuts for everyone, especially the richest, and moved the US Israel embassy to Jerusalem. Special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that his campaign was helped by Russia to win the 2016 election, but did not find sufficient evidence that Trump himself was involved. Trump was impeached in 2020, accused of trying to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for corruption. He was acquitted by the Republican majority. Trump is accused of sloppy handling of the corona pandemic, which undermined a relatively good economic development and led to the USA becoming one of the hardest hit countries in the world. Around 400,000 died in 2020. In November, Trump lost the re-election against Biden with 232 to 306 electoral delegates and almost 7 million fewer votes than the opposing candidate. However, he refused to admit defeat, tried hard to have the election overturned, and ended up being impeached again, accused of inciting his followers to storm Congress while the approval of the election was pending. On February 13, Trump was acquitted by 43 Republican senators. Two years later, Trump is still spreading conspiracy theories that he actually won the election. Source: NTB CPAC is Trump’s home turf This year it is even clearer that CPAC is rallying behind a president who has been impeached twice and who openly undermines the election results. – We will finish what we started, said Donald Trump to jubilant supporters. Among the participants was Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. She has said that if she led the storming of Congress in 2021, the protesters would have won. – I stand behind Trump and think he will win, Greene says to news. Attendees could relax in a replica of the White House’s Oval Office. Photo: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / Reuters Others in the party, who have worked closely with Trump, emphasize that there are alternatives. Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence will not commit to endorsing Trump. The president’s former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, now governor of Alabama, is also on the fence. Haley goes in the ring against Trump Nikki Haley, who will challenge Trump to become the party’s presidential candidate, received a brief round of applause. On her way out of the conference center, people stood around her shouting “We love Trump”. Nikki Haley was President Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. Now she wants to challenge her former boss in the race for the White House. Photo: ANNA MONEYMAKER / AFP In the speech, Haley urged the conservatives to focus on younger leaders. She also criticized the Republicans’ results in the last two elections. – If you are tired of losing, then put your trust in a new generation, said 51-year-old Haley. She did not mention Trump by name, but suggested that a “competence test” be introduced for politicians over the age of 75. Trump will not be deterred by possible indictment – I wouldn’t even think about resigning, Donald Trump told the press before he took the podium. Trump is being investigated for his role in the attempts to set aside the 2020 election results, and for taking classified documents to his private home. He is also being investigated by the states of New York and Georgia. It is unclear how far the investigations have progressed, but a possible indictment could come while he is campaigning to become the party’s presidential candidate. An indictment will not put an end to the attempts to become president again, Trump assures. He added that an indictment would also help increase support for him. The CPAC conference shows that Trump still has a loyal, strong base. Photo: ALEX WONG / AFP CPAC wants Trump as candidate CPAC ended as usual with a test vote on who the participants want as presidential candidate. Trump received 62 percent of the vote, which is a slight increase from last year, while Ron DeSantis received 20 percent. Nikki Haley was supported by 3 percent of the participants. The vote is secret and may signal where conservative supporters will send their campaign contributions. In 2016, when Trump ended up as the party’s nominee, Senator Ted Cruz won the informal CPAC poll.
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Trump is praised by conservatives, but faces competition – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
