Former US president Donald Trump hit out Thursday at rivals for the 2024 Republican White House nomination for skipping the country’s largest gathering of conservatives — as he talked up his own keynote address to the forum this weekend.
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which got underway Thursday outside Washington, is set to hear from many of the country’s most high-profile right-wing luminaries over three days.
But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence — who lead the pack chasing Trump for the nomination — will not be among them.
“The only reason certain ‘candidates’ won’t be going to CPAC is because the crowds have no interest in anything they have to say,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“They’ve heard it all before, and don’t want to hear it again.”
Trump plugged his own appearance at the National Harbor in Maryland, where he is scheduled to give the headline address on Saturday.
The event is “already a sold out ‘monster,'” he said, promising delegates “a great time.”
The 76-year-old tycoon, who is facing multiple criminal and civil investigations into a variety of misconduct allegations, added separately that he intends to target what he termed the “WEAPONIZATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT” and “Radical Left Prosecutors.”
CPAC delegates will hear from more than 100 mostly pro-Trump speakers, including former cabinet secretaries, several Republican senators and numerous far-right members of the House of Representatives before the conference closes Saturday.
Along with the headliners, CPAC has lined up breakout sessions with names like “Sacking the Woke Playbook” and “Big Tech: Break ’em Up, Bust ’em Up, Put ’em in Jail” — setting the tone for the week.
Thursday’s agenda opened with senior House Republican Jim Jordan, who bemoaned “cancel culture” and warned the audience that the Left “will come after you” if you disagree with them.
A Republican grievance over media reporting about President Joe Biden‘s son came up within five minutes of the session opening, as did a conspiracy theory about the FBI targeting Catholics.
The conference will hear later Thursday from former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, and from former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley on Friday.
Both are considered long shots in the primary contest, with Pompeo still weighing a run and Haley having declared her candidacy in February.
