Donald Trump is supposed to tell the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida this week that he is the man who will drain the Washington swamp – as the “presumptive 2024 candidate” of the Republicans.
Trump will speak at CPAC on Sunday, his subject is the future of the Republican Party. On Monday, citing anonymous sources, the news website Axios reported its plan to take over the mantle.
An unnamed “longtime adviser” was quoted as saying that Trump’s speech to the event on the right will be a “show of strength” with the message: “I may not have Twitter or the Oval Office, but I’m still in charge ”.
A named source, adviser Jason Miller, said: “Trump is effectively the Republican party. The only chasm is between Beltway insiders and grassroots Republicans across the country. When you attack President Trump, you are attacking the Republican bases ”.
Thousands have left the party since the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill, which Trump incited in his attempt to overturn an electoral defeat that he did not admit, and in which five people, including a police officer, died.
But the survey of those left shows the former president with a clear advantage over a number of potential candidates for 2,024, supporting him and not, in a hypothetical primary.
Ten House members voted to impeach Trump a second time because of the Capitol riot and seven senators voted with Democrats for the conviction. That was short for 10 necessary majority votes, but it made the most bipartisan impeachment ever.
Republicans who turned against Trump were censored by state parties and reported that the vitriol directed his way through the grassroots – and even his family members.
Trump’s control over the party is clear. On Sunday, a leading member of the House leadership, Steve Scalise, repeatedly refused to say that Trump lost the election or took responsibility for the Capitol riot.
Scalise told ABC News that he had visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort.
“I realized that he was much more relaxed than in his four years at the White House,” he said. “He is still very concerned about this country and the direction of our country. But, you know, it was more of a conversation about how he is now and what he … plans to do and how his family is doing. “
Axios quoted an unidentified source as saying that some potential candidates for 2024 sought Trump’s endorsement. He also noted that the former president, who would turn 78 on election day and faces considerable legal threats now that he has stepped down, may be planning to tie up the party, but in the end he will not run.
The funds raised around Trump’s lie about his clear defeat in the elections for Joe Biden to be the result of fraud can be invested in funding primaries against those who crossed him.
Either way, CPAC has kindly moved in from its usual Maryland location. Crowds at the conservative event initially suspected Trump, but went on to embrace his flag hugging displays with evangelical fervor.
The Axios source reportedly said: “Much like 2016, we are facing Washington again.”