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Former President Donald Trump returned to the Conservative Political Action Conference stage Saturday and trashed top members of the Republican Party while proclaiming he’d prevent World War III.
Trump knocked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, labeling him a ‘China-loving politician,’ got the crowd to boo Sen. Mitt Romney and took on Republicans in the Senate who dared hint that Social Security and Medicare be cut.
‘We are never going back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove and Jeb Bush,’ Trump said from the ballroom stage – shortly after he decisively won the CPAC straw poll, with 62 percent of conference attendees surveyed saying they wanted him to be the 2024 GOP nominee.
‘In 2016 I declared I am your voice. 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 told the enthusiastic crowd.
He had plenty of negative things to say about Democrats too – including mocking President Joe Biden for falling off his bike and stumbling on Air Force One’s stairs – but told the crowd the Republican Party was previously run by ‘freaks’ and ‘neocons.’
At one point, Trump’s speech was interrupted by a protester who loudly played the song FDT (F**k Donald Trump).
Former President Donald Trump returned to the Conservative Political Action Conference stage Saturday to leave no doubt that he owns the modern GOP
‘I am your warrior, I am your justice, and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,’ he told the enthusiastic crowd
Trump knocked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, labeling him a ‘China-loving politician,’ got the crowd to boo Sen. Mitt Romney and took on Republicans in the Senate who dared hint that Social Security and Medicare be cut
Trump was given top billing at the three and a half day conference that returned to suburban Washington after being held for two years in Florida amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to Trump’s arrival the crowd was entertained by the ex-president’s 2020 playlist that included YMCA and Gloria.
And his speech hit many of the same themes from both his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.
Trump hit President Joe Biden hard on illegal immigration.
‘Illegal immigrants come in and we house them in the Waldorf Astoria. But our soldiers, we did nothing for them,’ Trump complained, suggesting that illegal immigrants were watching his speech on TV from their ‘beautiful hotel suites.’
Trump went on a long riff about the president and his son Hunter.
‘Hunter Biden is a criminal and nothing happened to him,’ the ex-president said. ‘Joe Biden is a criminal and nothing ever seems to happen to him.’
Audience members at CPAC hold up a ‘Thank You Trump’ banner as the former president speaks Saturday evening
Trump is shown on one of the jumbotrons at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland during his CPAC address
Supporters, including a man who dresses like Trump’s border wall, cheer the ex-president Saturday at CPAC
Trump, again, took on Black Lives Matter and called on the preservation of Confederate monuments, saying ‘the most beautiful artwork, the most beautiful statues’ were being desecrated.
The 2024 hopeful teased that he was going to outline his agenda for his current presidential campaign.
‘At the top of my list, will be the slide into costly and never-ending wars,’ he then said, an idea he has long espoused.
Trump bragged that a new war wasn’t started during his four years in office.
‘I was also the only president where Russia didn’t take over a country during my tenure,’ he boasted. ‘Because I got along with Vladimir Putin very well. I said “Vladimir, don’t do it, you know you and I are friends, don’t take over any countries, because, you know, Moscow will be hit very hard.”‘
On the Ukraine war, Trump complained that NATO wasn’t paying its fair share.
And he knocked Biden for his pull-out of Afghanistan, something that was negotiated during Trump’s tenure.
‘No, we left the dogs behind and the Taliban doesn’t like dogs. But we left in disgrace. And it was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, probably.’
Trump then said he’d prevent World War III.
‘Before I even arrived at the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine settled, it will be settled quickly,’ he said.
This year’s CPAC speakers spent hours discussing trans people and Trump threw the crowd some red meat.
‘I will revoke every Biden policy promoting the chemical castration and sexual mutualization of our youth. And ask Congress to send me a bill prohibiting child sexual mutilation, in all 50 states,’ he said.
‘And will keep men out of women’s sports,’ the former president added.
Trump again said he would back term limits for members of Congress, something he had previously pitched.
And he continued to back elections conducted only with paper ballots, with rare exceptions granted for individuals wanting to vote absentee.
That being said, he encouraged Republicans to use all means of voting, after the party lost the White House in 2020 and had underwhelming midterm results in 2022.
‘Republicans must compete using every lawful means to win. That means swamping the left with mail-in votes, early votes and Election Day votes,’ Trump said. ‘We have to change our thinking.’
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