According to reports, Donald Trump will tell the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida this week that he is the man draining the Washington swamp, as the Republicans’ “alleged 2024 candidate.”
Trump will address CPAC on Sunday, his topic on the future of the Republican party. On Monday, citing anonymous sources, the news site Axios reported on its plan to take over the mantle.
An unnamed “longtime adviser” was quoted as saying Trump’s speech in the face of the right-wing event would be a “show of strength” with the message: “I may not have Twitter or the Oval Office, but I’m still in the lead “
A close adviser, Jason Miller, said: “Trump is indeed the Republican Party. The only chasm is between the privileged Beltway and grassroots Republicans across the country. When you attack President Trump, you are attacking Republican bases. “
Thousands have left the party since the January 6 Capitol attack, which Trump incited in his attempt to undo an electoral defeat he did not grant and in which five people, including an officer, were killed. of police.
But polls on the left show the former president clear leadership over a number of potential 2024 candidates, who support him and not, in notional primaries.
Ten members of the House voted to oust Trump a second time because of the Capitol revolt and seven senators voted with Democrats to condemn it. This was brief by 10 votes of the majority needed, but made it the most bipartisan removal in history.
Republicans who turned against Trump have been censored by state parties and reported that the vitriol had gone to the base, and even family members.
Trump’s adherence to the party is clear. On Sunday, a key member of the House leadership, Steve Scalise, repeatedly refused to say Trump was losing the election or taking responsibility for the Capitol riot.
Scalise told ABC News he had visited Trump in Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort.
“I noticed he was much more relaxed than in his four years in the White House,” he said. “He is still very concerned about this country and the leadership of our country. But, you know, it was one more conversation about how he’s doing now and what he’s going to do and how his family is doing. “
Axios cited an unnamed source who said some potential candidates in 2024 asked for Trump’s support. He also noted that the former president, who would be 78 on election day and facing considerable legal threats now that he has left office, could be planning to chain the party, but ultimately fail to run.
Funds raised around Trump’s lie about his clear electoral defeat by Joe Biden as a result of fraud can be used to fund primaries against those who have crossed him.
Either way, CPAC has necessarily moved close, from its usual place in Maryland. Crowds at the conservative event initially suspected Trump, but came to embrace his flag-hugging displays with evangelical fervor.
According to reports, the Axios source said, “Just like in 2016, we will take Washington again.”