Over the weekend, President Trump and his Republican colleagues gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where the far-right took center stage. From Steve Bannon making Nazi salutes to Trump praising retribution against his political enemies, Republicans spent their weekend celebrating the unraveling of civil society and elevating the most fringe ideologues within their ranks. Some lowlights from the weekend:
KEY MOMENTS
Steve Bannon Made A Nazi Salute and Pushed For An Unconstitutional Third Term For President Trump. Bannon, who ended his CPAC speech by throwing up a straight-armed Nazi salute, said during his speech, “The future of MAGA is Donald Trump! We want Trump in ’28. That’s what they can’t stand. A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in the country’s history. We want Trump! We want Trump!”
- Mexican Far-Right Figure Eduardo Verástegui Also Made A Nazi Salute. During his CPAC speech on Saturday, former Mexican actor and far-right figure Eduardo Verástegui made a Nazi salute as well.
President Trump Praised Efforts To Target Political Adversaries. As the New York Times reported, “Not only at the 2023 CPAC but throughout last year’s campaign, after he was charged with dozens of state and federal felonies, Mr. Trump had vowed revenge against his political enemies. He promised that his election would be a ‘judgment day’ for ‘the liars and cheaters and fraudsters and censors and impostors who have commandeered our government.’ On Saturday, Mr. Trump declared that revenge tour to be well underway. ‘The fraudsters, liars, cheaters, globalists and deep-state bureaucrats are being sent packing,’ said Mr. Trump, who is presiding over an effort to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy.’
Kari Lake Praised President Trump’s Efforts To Target The Free Press. During her CPAC speech, Lake declared, “We rendered the fake news worthless and useless, only to find out that our government has been propping them up, keeping them alive with tens of millions of dollars of our tax money. It is absolutely sick. They propped them up. So the mainstream media is really just kind of a zombie media right now. They’re a bunch of zombie media outlets who can only make payroll if our government funnels millions of dollars to them.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi Suggested She Could Prosecute President Biden. During an interview with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), AG Bondi was asked about prosecuting former president Joe Biden. She replied, “No one is above the law.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) Declared Congressional Republicans Would Codify “So Much Of” Trump’s 300 Executive Orders Into Law. During his CPAC speech, Speaker Johnson declared, “The president has over 300 executive actions already, and we’re going to codify so much of what he’s doing so that the next team can’t unwind it.”
Anti-CPAC Counterprogramming Faced Bomb Threats Claiming To “Honor” January 6. On Sunday, the anti-CPAC “Principles First Summit” political conference had to be evacuated after organizers received a bomb threat from an individual claiming to be far-right former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. The email claimed that the bombs were meant to “honor the J6 hostages recently released.”
President Trump Praised Right-Wing Populists and Authoritarians. As the Washington Post noted, “Trump thanked Argentine President Javier Milei, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, and the leader of a far-right party in Spain, Santiago Abascal, for attending. He also recognized Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.”
President Trump Lied About The 2024 Election. On Saturday, President Trump lied about the 2024 election during his speech. CNN fact-checked the president immediately, writing, “President Donald Trump keeps lying not only about the 2020 election he lost but the 2024 election he won. In a Saturday speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump correctly noted that he earned 77 million votes in 2024 — then falsely said his vote total was ‘actually much more than that,’ since unspecified people ‘cheated like hell.’ There’s no basis for this claim.”
Elon Musk: “They’re Trying To Stop Freedom of Speech.” During his CPAC speech, Musk doubled down on his attacks on his political adversaries, blatantly lying about his opponents: “They’re trying to stop freedom of speech and infringe upon people’s personal freedoms. They want to take away your guns.”