Outside the Beltway

Donald Trump Will Once Again Speak At CPAC

Doug Mataconis
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For some reason, the Conservative Political Action Conference has decided to invite Donald Trump to speak at CPAC:

Celebrity mogul Donald Trump will speak at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, a major stomping ground for Republican activists and presidential hopefuls.

“I look forward to welcoming him back to the CPAC stage next week,” said American Conservative Union President Al Cardenas. “Mr. Trump’s previous CPAC appearance was hugely popular among our attendees and we expect it will be even more popular this year.”

Trump spoke at CPAC in 2011, when he was considering a presidential bid. The room was packed for his appearance, which got a decidedly mixed reception; there were boos before, during and after his speech. His dismissal of Ron Paul’s candidacy was particularly unpopular.

A few months later, Trump announced that he wasn’t a candidate, a decision he now says he regrets.

“I made a mistake in not running, because I think I would have won,” the “Apprentice” star recently told the Associated Press.

After his 2011 CPAC appearance, of course, Trump engaged in a cynical game with the media where he promoted the bither issue and pretended to run for President for a few weeks. Why the people at the American Conservative Union are inviting him back is something I can’t quite figure out.

 

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25 responses to “Donald Trump Will Once Again Speak At CPAC”

  1. Markey Avatar
    Markey

    WooT LoL

  2. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    Why the people at the American Conservative Union are inviting him back is something I can’t quite figure out.

    Because they have no souls.

  3. swbarnes2 Avatar
    swbarnes2

    Why the people at the American Conservative Union are inviting him back is something I can’t quite figure out.

    Because their participants, conservatives all, like listening to him, because they like what he has to say. Is the notion that other people have their own brains, and their own preferences really so utterly mysterious to you?

    How about, rather than wondering why every conference doesn’t express exactly the same viewpoints that you seem to think everyone ought to possess, why don’t you do a little empirical analysis for once?

    This is a conference with prestigious, major names in conservatism. Why don’t you empirically derive some current principles and values of that movement by examining the data of the speakers and their presentations? Doesn’t that sound like the kind of thing a political blogger ought to be able to do? Doesn’t that sound more interesting than saying “I don’t understand why this person is saying this, isn’t it hilarious how many people will be suffering under policies from that crazy talk” about every single conservative figure in the country every single time any of them open their mouths?

  4. Mr. Replica Avatar
    Mr. Replica

    CPAC : “Conservative” Political Action Circus.

  5. Fiona Avatar
    Fiona

    Wow. Trump and Palin. I guess CPAC wants to show that they may shun gays, but they welcome idiots.

  6. gVOR08 Avatar
    gVOR08

    What @swbarnes2: said. Is this a great country or what? Someone like Donald Trump can be born with a silver spoon in his mouth and make enough money to pretend to be a billionaire despite being too dumb to figure out Obama could produce a long form birth certificate anytime he felt like doing so. The man is an ignorant, arrogant fool and a two bit grifter with a good line of bull. Which makes him a perfect fit at CPAC, Doug.

  7. legion Avatar
    legion

    Hey, every clown car needs a driver…

  8. Tsar Nicholas Avatar
    Tsar Nicholas

    Why the people at the American Conservative Union are inviting him back is something I can’t quite figure out

    .

    Demographics. The folks who run the ACU/CPAC are as WASP-Y as the Hamptons, as cocooned as caterpillars, as inexperienced as virgins, and as loopy as roller coasters.

    Speaking of which, just wait until the ’15-’16 GOP presidential primary cycle. If you thought ’12 and ’08 were insane clown circuses you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The cocooned right gets a little bit dumber and little bit more irrational, each and every day.

  9. superdestroyer Avatar
    superdestroyer

    Who cares? Does whether someone is invited or not to a meaningless convention affect policy, governance, or politics in the U.S.

    Is there a bigger groups of irrelevant people than the idiots who attend CPAC?

  10. al-Ameda Avatar
    al-Ameda

    A few months later, Trump announced that he wasn’t a candidate, a decision he now says he regrets.
    “I made a mistake in not running, because I think I would have won,” the “Apprentice” star recently told the Associated Press.

    I hope the 2016 GOP Ticket is Trump-Palin, Trump-Taitz, Trump-Bachmann, or Trump-This – I suggest, you decide.

  11. Lynda Avatar
    Lynda

    I really hoped that the most recent defeat would shake up the Republican Party but if the CPAC roster is any guide there is not much desire for either introspection or change.

    GOProud is not welcome but there is a warm invite for Donald Trump. Jeb Bush is going to promote his new immigration proposal that features a second class form of residency where people can pay taxes and work but never be allowed to gain citizenship or vote.

    So it is Bigots, Birthers and Bush.

    Even more hilariously they didn’t invite Chris Christie as he “has a limited future in the Republican Party” and “has not had an All Star year” yet those two success stories Palin and Romney have speaking slots.

    I suppose I should be grateful that at least Pamela Geller has been rejected.

  12. Rick Almeida Avatar
    Rick Almeida

    Why the people at the American Conservative Union are inviting him back is something I can’t quite figure out.

    If this is sincerely true, your outstanding education may have been wasted. Perhaps you could hypothesize a few possibilities and discuss them. Nah, best to be left with just this aching, nagging wonderment that can never be satisfied.

  13. swbarnes2 Avatar
    swbarnes2

    @Rick Almeida:

    If this is sincerely true,

    Its not. He’s posturing. Doug likes voting for conservative candidates (even if they aren’t technically Republican), but he wants to distance himself from lots of the policies his votes help implement.

    Once again, it’s a plea from a prosperous white guy that we judge him by what’s in his heart, and not by the results of his actions. White male conservatives will fall back to that every time.

  14. Moosebreath Avatar
    Moosebreath

    Because they think Trump and not Christie is the figure to lead Republicans out of the wilderness. Which says quite a lot about CPAC.

  15. James Pearce (Formerly Known as Herb) Avatar
    James Pearce (Formerly Known as Herb)

    Good ole CPAC….the cons conning cons con.

  16. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    So Trump, past supporter of Canadian-style health care, is an acceptable conservative, but Christie is not. The feeling I get–aside from the obvious fact of Trump’s wealth–is that “conservative values” these days had less to do with the policies one supports than one’s temperament and demeanor. Put simply, if you act like a deranged a$$hole toward Democrats, particularly toward Obama, you’re a good conservative. That’s a large reason Christie was previously considered acceptable and now isn’t. His policies haven’t changed; he’s just been caught being nice to the President, and that’s apparently a bigger heresy than favoring socialized medicine from a foreign power.

  17. Montanareddog Avatar
    Montanareddog

    Chris Christie is recognisably a conservative; those of us who do not agree with his policies can still accept that he has been elected and is executing his duties competently in a manner that he believes is in the general interests of his State.

    It is dangerous for the Republic that so few GOP politicians nowadays seem capable of conducting themselves like Christie. The party has apparently been taken over by radicals and grifters.

    So, the fact that Governor Christie has not been invited to the AGM of a right-wing grifters organisation is not a surprise. That they should instead invite half-term Governor Grift, or the 700lb-Gorilla of Grift himself, Donald Trump will surprise no informed person.

    It’s a business; the business of separating suckers from their cash, whether they be Zionist billionaires or middle-class evangelicals. And Palin and Trump are marquee draws for that business. Governor Christie would only be a draw for genuine conservatives.

    And they are giving an “accuracy in media” award to Jim Hoft – satire is not only dead; they are urinating on its rotting corpse.

  18. de stijl Avatar
    de stijl

    From Doug’s post:

    Trump engaged in a cynical game with the media where he promoted the bither issue and pretended to run for President for a few weeks.

    He didn’t just pretend to run for President. He was the runaway leader in the polls.

    You can be a human skidmark like Trump and lead the race for the Republican nomination if you publicly hate on the Kenyan usurper just like Trump. Literally, all it takes is to hate Obama and you, too, can be the frontrunner for the highest elected office in the land.

    It helps if you’re a billionaire, though. Well, a “billionaire” in Trump’s case.

  19. grumpy realist Avatar
    grumpy realist

    Somehow having the hollow imbecility of Trump being acceptable to CPAC while Christie, who actually governs a state (and seems to be doing rather well) is not–just demonstrates what level of sniggering grifterdom CPAC has descended to.

    Note to future Republican politicians: the American people are not going to elect talk show hosts as POTUS. You’re actually going to have to have run something.

  20. gVOR08 Avatar
    gVOR08

    @al-Ameda:

    I hope the 2016 GOP Ticket is Trump-Palin, Trump-Taitz, Trump-Bachmann, or Trump-This – I suggest, you decide.

    I hope so too, but I think Larry O’Donnell has this nailed. Trump can’t run. He’d have to make financial disclosures that would show he’s bull shitting.

  21. grumpy realist Avatar
    grumpy realist

    @gVOR08: Am too lazy to google it, but have you noticed the fight between Forbes and the Saudi billionaire over exactly how much he owns? Forbes downgraded him on the list of richest people in the world and now he’s talking of suing them. (I dearly would like to know what tort he’s going to claim.)

  22. Just 'nutha ig'rant cracker Avatar
    Just ‘nutha ig’rant cracker

    @Tsar NicholasBaron von Munchausen: And yet, these guys are still your team.

  23. al-Ameda Avatar
    al-Ameda

    @gVOR08:

    I hope so too, but I think Larry O’Donnell has this nailed. Trump can’t run. He’d have to make financial disclosures that would show he’s bull shitting.

    I definitely agree with that. Also, consider this: isn’t Trump the only person ever, to fail at running a casino?

  24. matt bernius Avatar
    matt bernius

    @Kylopod:

    The feeling I get–aside from the obvious fact of Trump’s wealth–is that “conservative values” these days had less to do with the policies one supports than one’s temperament and demeanor.

    Repeated ’cause its so on point.

  25. Moosebreath Avatar
    Moosebreath

    @al-Ameda:

    “isn’t Trump the only person ever, to fail at running a casino”

    No, it’s actually something which Trump has in common with Chris Christie.

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