President Trump is in his element Saturday afternoon as he speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference, one of the largest gatherings of Trump supporters in the country.
Mr. Trump began his speech by railing against common enemies like the “fake news” and “crooked politicians,” and complained that he was being treated poorly by his political enemies. He joked that he had promised to be nice in his speech, but “only a fool is nice when they treat you so badly.”
Mr. Trump touted his administration’s accomplishments, such as the strike which killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani in January, saying “we took that son of a bitch out.” He discussed the strike which killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, comparing watching that mission to watching a movie. Mr. Trump’s speech also mentioned the peace agreement signed with Taliban militants on Saturday aimed at bringing an end to the nearly two-decade conflict in Afghanistan.
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CPAC, a decades-old gathering of conservatives, has increasingly become a Trump-centered operation, focusing not so much on the traditional conservative ideas of limited government or individual responsibility, but on the person of Donald Trump and the so-called “deep state” allegedly undermining him.
This year’s CPAC features sessions titled “The Coup: The Day After Tomorrow,” “The Coup: Rosenstein and Comey,” and a play entitled “FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers,” with people playing FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.
Utah Senator Mitt Romney is persona non grata at the conference this year, disinvited after he was the lone Republican to vote to remove Mr. Trump from office in the Senate impeachment trial. Mr. Trump called Romney a “lowlife” during his speech before CPAC.
American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp mocked Romney on Thursday.
“Not having Romney at CPAC worked out just fine,” he said, to cheers. Congressman Mark Meadows, who was onstage with Schlapp chimed in, too: “So, you mean they would rather have Donald Trump here than Mitt Romney?”
In recent years, the president has used CPAC to riff on his favorite topics before a friendly crowd. He’s sure to hit on a favorite theme for the Republican Party, particularly now that Senator Bernie Sanders is a leading contender for the Democratic nomination. Last year, Mr. Trump told the CPAC crowd, “America will never be a socialist country.”
Mr. Trump’s CPAC address this year comes hours before the polls close in South Carolina, where former Vice President Joe Biden could be poised for his first victory in the primary season so far.
