Even if he has become a former president of the United States, Trump’s topicality remains unchanged.
Although he has not appeared in large public in nearly a month, whether he successfully exonerated the Senate trial, or issued a statement to “angry” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and bitterly criticized McConnell as a “third-rate political hacker”, these have kept Trump active in the public eye. .
Obviously, Trump is not satisfied with just “truming around” behind his back. He still hopes to “go out of the mountain” again and go to the stage.
According to people familiar with the matter, Trump will attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and make a long speech on February 28 local time. The New York Times pointed out that this will be Trump’s first public appearance after leaving office.
The Conservative Political Action Conference, which claims to be the “largest and most influential” gathering of conservatives in the world, has always been a platform for Republican presidential candidates and aspiring politicians in the party to make calls.The New York Times pointed out that Trump’s political career began with a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2011.
U.S. media said that Trump’s attendance at the meeting may hinder other presidential candidates.
According to Reuters, conservative political action meetings are usually held in Washington, D.C. This year due to the impact of the epidemic, the meeting will be held in Orlando, Florida from February 25 to February 28 local time.
USA Today noted that Trump was the first speaker listed on the CPAC website, which described Trump as “the definition of American success story”.
Trump will address the final day of the conference, focusing on the future of the Republican and conservative movements and the immigration policies of the Biden administration, according to people familiar with the matter.
In addition to Trump, South Dakota Governor Christie Noam, former U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator Rick Scott, and Missouri Senator Josh Holly is on the list of speakers.
Trump has said that he will strongly support candidates who can carry forward his political ideas. However, the New York Times analysis believes that since whether Trump will participate in the 2024 presidential election is still unknown, Trump’s presence may hinder other candidates interested in the presidential election from doing their work to some extent.
Trump’s influence is still there, and it may be hard for them to find donors to support their campaign.
More and more Republicans are returning to Trump’s “hussom”
Trump’s move is not surprising, which should also be in line with his previous promise to help the Republicans “retake” the 2022 midterm congressional elections.
After Trump acquitted from the Senate impeachment trial, it seems that more and more Republicans want to “hug” Trump again.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who once shouted “Don’t count me in the Senate” and was disappointed in the way Trump handled the Capitol riots, recently changed his tone.
According to the Washington Post, Graham will go to Trump’s Mar-a-a-Lago Estate on February 21 local time to play golf and have dinner with Trump for two days. According to people familiar with the matter, Graham has talked to Trump almost every day since January 6 local time.
He also served as an informal adviser to the Trump defense team in the Senate impeachment trial.
Graham went to Mar-a-Lago in hopes of bridging the internal GOP, and urged Trump to use his influence to do something good for the Republican Party, people familiar with the matter said.
Graham said he had knowledge of polls in South Carolina and across the country, and the results showed that Trump still had lasting influence among Republican voters even after the Capitol riots.
Graham once said in an interview, “If he [Trump] ran in the [2024] election, he would be nominated.” He added, “In my opinion, it would be impossible to achieve our [Republican] goals without Trump.”
The Washington Post pointed out that Graham only regarded supporting Trump as a practical political tool, and he was willing to tolerate Trump in exchange for closer proximity to power.
South Carolina political adviser Matt Moore also believes that Graham’s position is simple, that he wants to alle with the most popular people in the party.” He (Graham) can see what a wise bet is at a glance.
In addition to Graham, RNC chairwoman Lenna McDaniel also plans to meet Trump next week at Mar-a-Lago, according to people familiar with the matter.
\Previously, House Minority Leader, Republican Kevin McCarthy, had traveled to Mar-a-Lago to discuss with Trump how the Republican Party would win the 2022 midterm elections.
The internal differences within the Republican Party are getting worse and worse.
Behind the curtain of the 2020 presidential election, the Republican Party has been “ripped” about the direction of the way forward. On February 13th, local time, the Senate finally found the impeachment clause accusing Trump of “sedition” invalid by 57 votes to find guilty and 43 votes to be innocent. After Trump’s exonement, the “road battle” within the Republican Party is in full swing.
First of all, Trump and McConnell “choked each other”. McConnell condemned Trump of “factual and moral responsibility” for the Capitol riots, while Trump called McConnell a “cold, gloomy and unsmiling political hacker”.
Now the practice of Republicans such as Graham is directly opposite to McConnell. After losing control of the Senate and the White House, Republican leaders such as McConnell advocated taking a different path forward and completing the “cutting” with Trump to prevent him from continuing to “poison” the Republican Party.
Although McConnell also focuses on the 2022 midterm elections, he said he would work to minimize Trump’s influence.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted for Trump “guilty” in the Senate trial, also worries that Trump will continue to affect the future of the Republican Party, “after all, the Republican Party is not a party of one person,” ABC reported.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan also condemned Trump for the Capitol riots, and Hogan said, “If Republicans can stop worrying about being blamed by Trump and his supporters, the Republican Party may attract more votes against Trump.”
When the two sides within the Republican Party split, signs of forming a new party began to appear within the party. According to US media MSNBC, McMallin, executive director of the nonprofit political organization Stand Up Republic, said he recently called more than 120 Republicans to discuss the possibility of forming a new political party or faction within the Republican Party.
I think it’s clear that now is the time to need something new. I talked to) 40% of Republicans think that the Republican Party has no hope of reform.
He added that the new party, which is still hypothetical, can challenge Republicans who have abandoned the cornerstone of American politics in the primary. Hogan predicts that there will be a battle for the future of the Republican Party in the next few years.
