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Trump called for a ‘united’ party but ticked off a political enemies list of those who have crossed him and voted to impeach or convict him.
DONALD TRUMP IS NO longer president of the United States. But the defeated, former commander in chief seemed not to have gotten the memo as he spoke to a cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday.
"We won the election twice – think about it," Trump told the packed room of mostly maskless attendees. He railed about "election integrity" and claimed, despite scores of legal decisions to the contrary, that "this election was rigged."
He said he had no intention of starting a third political party, an idea floated by some of his advisers last month. "Wouldn't that be brilliant? Let's start a new party so we can divide our vote and never win," Trump said. Instead, he said, "we will be united and strong like never before."
Trump limited his "unity" to those Republicans who have not crossed him, ticking off a political enemies list of House and Senate members who voted to impeach or convict him. He took an extended verbal shot at GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
"Her poll numbers have dropped faster than any human being I have ever seen," Trump said. "Hopefully, they'll get rid of her in the next election. Get rid of them all," Trump added, announcing he would work to elect "strong" Republicans who supported him.
In a rambling speech reminiscent of his campaign rallies, the former president railed about illegal immigration, mask mandates, "protecting" women's sports from transgender athletes and what he called President Joe Biden's "disastrous first month" in office.
He blamed the president for keeping children "locked in their homes" and unable to attend school in person, and called on Biden to reopen schools. "The only reason parents do not have that choice is that Joe Biden sold America's children to the teachers' unions," Trump told the crowd.
Biden does not have the authority to reopen schools, which are under local control –ironically, a construct supported by conservatives who don't want the federal government interfering in state and local decisions. The Centers for Disease Control recently released reopening guidelines, but it is up to school districts when to go back to in-person learning.
Often, Trump spoke as if he still were president, bragging about the weekend approval of a new vaccine by Johnson and Johnson, and discussing his time in office as if it were still happening.
And reinforcing the lie that the election – which Biden won by more than 7 million votes – was stolen from him, Trump predicted that "Democrats should suffer withering losses in the midterms and to lose the White House decisively four years from now."
"I may decide to beat them for a third time," Trump added with a mischievous tone, winning a raucous standing ovation from the crowd.
Trump cast Biden's immigration policy as "illegal, immoral" and a "betrayal" of American values – language very similar to the descriptors white House press secretary Jen Psaki used to describe Trump's policy of separating families at the border, on the occasion of Biden signing executive orders to reverse Trump immigration policies.
The former president cast himself as the more popular leader – a confidence reinforced by chants of: "we love you! We love you!" at the CPAC meeting. Biden's approval rating is an average of 54.4%, with a disapproval rating of 38.3%, according to a statistical analysis of polls by FiveThirtyEight.
In February of his first term, Trump's numbers were a near mirror image: aQuinnipiac University poll in February, 2017 showed Trump with a 39% favorability rating, and a 55% unfavorable rating.
Trump has been a dominant force at CPAC, despite being out of office and with an uncertain legal and political future.
The former president was the favorite in CPAC's straw poll on which person attendees want to see as the GOP presidential nominee in 2024, winning 55% of the vote in a crowded field.
Still, the showing was surprisingly low for Trump, who remains arguably the most powerful personality in the Republican Party right now. CPAC attracts the most conservative and Trumpian elements of the party; a popular future at this year's meeting is a larger-than-life, sparkly statue of Trump. As the former leader plots a potential comeback in 2024, it is somewhat concerning to Trump that he won the votes of a little more than half of attendees.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis earned some local support at the Orlando event, winning 21% of the vote. All the other contenders were below 5% – including Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, who was the favorite of just 1% of CPAC-goers.
Without Trump in the mix, DeSantis led with 43% of the straw poll vote, followed by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem with 11%, Donald Trump Jr., with 8%, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen, Ted Cruz of Texas each with 7%.
The Trump-less poll still had Pence with 1% support – behind former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ivanka Trump, each of whom got 3% support.
The poll did show support for Trump's approach, if not his candidacy. An overwhelming 95% said they wanted to continue Trump's agenda.
But Trump faces some roadblocks, should he indeed decide to seek a second, interrupted term. Legal and financial problems could consume his energy – and cash – in the coming years. And there is a segment of the Republican party eager to dump Trump in favor of someone with a broader appeal in a general election.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Illinois Republican who voted "aye" on Trump's second impeachment in January, has started a "Country First" political action committee, a group dedicated to eliminating the "poisonous extremism" in politics.
Kinzinger weighed in on Trump's speech mid-way through the hour-plus-long address.
"Trump lost the election FYI. Side note this speech is boring. We can't win the presidency with this boring, low energy, stream of conscience, weak, has been, choke artist. Just my .02," Kinzinger tweeted.