Despite having just addressed reporters and the nation on the coronavirus, President Donald Trump arrived Saturday in National Harbor, Maryland for his CPAC with his fastball. In an 84-minute speech, he reminded attendees, journalists, and viewers that CPAC shifted in the last four years from a gathering of thousands representing differing (and sometimes waring) factions on the right to thousands pulling in the same direction for Team Trump.
With a packed crowd hanging on his every word, the President delivered not only a comedy routine for the ages against his 2020 opponents but also brutal takedowns against a potpourri of opponents, including the liberal media. And most notably, he made sure to again embrace the American flag.
For purposes here, we’ll recap the references to the Trump-hating liberal media, which have been working to convince the public that the President views the coronavirus as “a hoax” when he used that term Friday to condemn the liberal spin about his response to the virus.
At one point, Trump remarked how he lost the 2019 Time person of the year to far-left climate change alarmist Greta Thunberg but was okay with it because he had already “won it enough” because “the whole world revolves around” him as President.
Trump added that it’s become so bad that when you turn on cable news networks like “stupid CNN…every story is Trump or Trump-related.” While exaggerated, he quipped that “if a plane goes down with 700 people on it, they don’t even cover it anymore” to illustrate the media’s obsession with him to the detriment of countless non-Trump stories.
He then correctly stated that his political career has made The New York Times into “a vibrant paper” but will wilt when he leaves office. And when wondering about how long that will be, he torched HBO’s Real Time host Bill Maher as “crazy” and “a total nutjob” or thinking he’ll never leave the presidency (click “expand”):
Now, it’s a vibrant paper, but when I am no longer here in five years or nine years or 13 years or 17 years [LAUGHTER] 21, 25 --- no they actually think I am not leaving, you know. This crazy Bill Maher --- you ever heard of this guy? He says, “you know he’s not leaving?” Believe me --- he had a crazy guest that didn’t have a clue and the guest, he said, “you know, Trump is going to win, you know that, don't you? He’s going to win. He’s going to win, don't you?” Like I see he’s devastated --- Bill Maher, he’s a nutjob. “You know he is going to win?” And the guest says, “no, no, we’re going to fight hard. We think we have a very good chance.” “No, no. he’s going to win. And then, you know what? He’s never leaving, don't you? He is never leaving. No, no. He’s never leaving. No, no. He’s got it work --- he will never leave. There’s no way.” And I used to think he was kidding. He’s not. He is a total nut job, this guy. [LAUGHTER]
After riffs condemning the left’s “relentless crusade to overturn the results of the 2016 election and sabotage” 2020 and the deep state, Trump acknowledged former Reagan official, former CNN political commentator, and NewsBusters columnist Jeffrey Lord as “the greatest” and “great guy [who] used to defend me on CNN and then he defended me just a little bit too much and they said, Jeffrey, get the hell out.”
Trump repeatedly humored the audience by waxing poetic about his life since 2015 and then since taking office with accomplishments the liberal media have done their best to forget (click “expand”):
We're doing so well, and we're doing so much, no administration has ever done what we've done in the first three years. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Nobody. Tax cuts or -- [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Supreme Court judges. 218 judges. We're up to 218, including D.C. But together we're defeating the radical, socialist Democrats, the fake news media, the crooked politicians and the hate-filled left-wing mob and I told you I was gonna be nice today. See? [LAUGHTER] I said, let's be nice today. It's hard to be nice when they treat you so badly, right? Only a fool is nice when they treat you so badly.
(….)
With the help of everyone here today, the American dream is back, bigger, better and stronger than ever before. It’s great. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] To lift up forgot and impoverished communities, we created nearly 9,000 opportunities all across our country. Tim Scott -- Senator Tim Scott was so good. Creating jobs, opportunities and investment. It’s now pouring into the places that needed it the most. We have poor areas that haven't had ten cents invested in them in years and years and years and now millions of dollars are going in there. We're transforming neighborhood. It's incredible. It's not talked about much by the media. It's one of the greatest things ever done in terms of economic development. Opportunity zones. Millions and millions of dollars are being poured in. And not being poured in by the federal government. Not being poured in by the federal government. It’s an incredible thing.
Finally, Trump was in the midst of a rant about Middle East foreign policy and defeating Islamic terrorism when he boiled down what he thinks about the press (minus his use of the “enemy of the people”) (click “expand”): “These people are the worst. They are. [LAUGHTER] So much easier for our country if we had a press that told the truth. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Really. Right? It's true[.]”
All told, CPAC 2020 was deniably a four-day gathering of like-minded conservatives and Republicans with near-unflinching loyalty to the President that delivered on issues like the judiciary, life, and taxes.
And if one had traveled back in time to tell CPAC attendees in the 2000s through the early 2010s that the 2020 conference would give roaring approval to a peace deal with the Taliban and raucous boos to Mitt Romney, it’s a safe bet their jaws would have needed picked up off the floor.
Tripling down on what this space wrote in both 2017 and 2019, CPAC has hitched its wagon to the President. So only time will tell if, by this time next year, the total embrace will have paid off. At the very least, the President repeatedly committed to returning for CPAC 2021, no matter the results in November.
To see the relevant transcript from CPAC 2020 on February 29, click “expand.”
CPAC 2020
February 29, 2020
3:37 p.m. EasternTRUMP: Do you think this has been fun? [LAUGHTER] Does anybody --- does anybody think -- Mercedes, do you think this has been fun? I don’t think – you know. This has been just a ball. We've had a ball. But you know what? You know what? We're doing so well, and we're doing so much, no administration has ever done what we've done in the first three years. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Nobody. Tax cuts or -- [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Supreme court judges. 218 judges. We're up to 218, including D.C. But together we're defeating the radical, socialist Democrats, the fake news media, the crooked politicians and the hate-filled left-wing mob and I told you I was gonna be nice today. See? [LAUGHTER] I said, let's be nice today. It's hard to be nice when they treat you so badly, right? Only a fool is nice when they treat you so badly.
(….)
3:53 p.m. Eastern
TRUMP: You remember recently, when I took the soldiers out of Syria, and everyone said, well, well, we have to protect the border between Turkey and -- I said, why? Why? What does it have to do with us? They've been fighting for a thousand years. What does that have to do with us? Why are we protecting the border? “You can't do that!” I did it. We created a safe zone. And I did leave a number of soldiers, because we kept the oil. There's oil there. We kept the oil, if it's ok. So they say, “he left soldiers there! No, no, I left soldiers to keep the oil. Ok? They don't want to say that. They like to say, “he kept soldiers there! He -- he didn't tell the truth.” These people are the worst. They are. [LAUGHTER] So much easier for our country if we had a press that told the truth. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Really. Right? It's true and we're also committed to ensuring that those who mean to do us harm as a nation, even as individuals, are denied admission to America. They're not allowed into our country and we have some very, very powerful people right now. Our borders are strong. All of the 9/11 hijackers came here on visas and we are determined to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.
(….)
4:09 p.m. Eastern
TRUMP: From the moment I took the oath of office, the left has pursued a relentless crusade to overturn the results of the 2016 election and sabotage our next election. You know that. It was all a big hoax. You know that. Disgraceful. We caught the dirty cop on top. Had I not fired Comey, it would have been a whole different story. Would have been a whole different story. Would have been a whole difference. [APPLAUSE] That was a great firing, I'll tell you. A lot of people say, “oh, you shouldn't have done that.” No, no. Just the opposite. We didn't fire him --- remember the insurance policy, right? Right? Remember that? My friend over there, you are the greatest. Thank you very much. Stand up, please. Look at him. Look. Does everybody know Jeffrey? Jeffrey Lord, what a great guy, used to defend me on CNN and then he defended me just a little bit too much and they said, Jeffrey, get the hell out. Thank goodness you're on Fox now, right? He used to defend me. He used to say, he's better than Ronald Reagan and that was enough for Jeffrey. That was the end. Get out of here, Jeffrey! We don't want you anymore. He was too good. Thank you. Thank you for being here too, Jeffrey.
(….)
4:13 p.m. Eastern
TRUMP: With the help of everyone here today, the American dream is back, bigger, better and stronger than ever before. It’s great. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] To lift up forgot and impoverished communities, we created nearly 9,000 opportunities all across our country. Tim Scott -- Senator Tim Scott was so good. Creating jobs, opportunities and investment. It’s now pouring into the places that needed it the most. We have poor areas that haven't had ten cents invested in them in years and years and years and now millions of dollars are going in there. We're transforming neighborhood. It's incredible. It's not talked about much by the media. It's one of the greatest things ever done in terms of economic development. Opportunity zones. Millions and millions of dollars are being poured in. And not being poured in by the federal government. Not being poured in by the federal government. It’s an incredible thing.
(….)
4:19 p.m. Eastern
TRUMP: I don't like to be repetitive. [LAUGHTER] Like Sleepy Joe where he says the same thing four different times. Well, he's got a bad habit. “Ladies and gentlemen of Ohio, it's great to be with you.” “Joe, Joe! You're in Iowa.” [LAUGHTER] That was seven times he's done that. I haven't done it once. And if I did, you know what I'd do? I'd walk off the stage, because there's nothing you can do to come back from that. You can be --- you can be Winston Churchill. He was a great, great speaker. Winston Churchill was pretty good, right? You could be Winston Churchill for the rest of the speech and the press doesn't kill him, you know. He said the other night --- this was really a beauty. Sleepy Joe. He said, guns have killed 150 million people in our country. [LAUGHTER]
(….)
4:32 p.m. Eastern
TRUMP: They named me Time magazine person of the year, right? This year I lost to Greta. Greta. I lost to Greta. [APPLAUSE] I said, who? I'm not going to get involved in that, because last time I got in a little trouble. [LAUGHTER] But I lost to Greta. But it doesn't matter, I’ve won it enough. I mean, in all fairness, when the whole world revolves around this person, I don't say good or bad or indiff -- but you turn on that stupid CNN, you turn on MSDNC, you turn on Fox, every story is Trump or Trump-related, right? If a plane goes down with 700 people on it, they don't even cover it anymore. That used to be a big event. They don't cover it anymore. [LAUGHTER] It’s really unfair, but it --- it’s been, by the way, have we ought to great time though, this journey? This journey --- right? [APPLAUSE] This journey has been amazing. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] You know, I tell the story, a month before I ran, I said to my wife, “well I'm thinking about it.” I said to a couple, “I'm thinking about it,” I didn't think too much about it, I thought about it, like, a day before I ran, but I remember seeing The New York Times that came to my office, I held it up. It was like a thing you handout at a grocery store. You know, it would've blown away with a little wind, about two miles an hour, it would've blown away, that was The New York Times. Now, it’s a vibrant paper, but when I am no longer here in five years or nine years or 13 years or 17 years [LAUGHTER] 21, 25 --- no they actually think I am not leaving, you know. This crazy Bill Maher --- you ever heard of this guy? He says, “you know he’s not leaving?” Believe me --- he had a crazy guest that didn’t have a clue and the guest, he said, “you know, Trump is going to win, you know that, don't you? He’s going to win. He’s going to win, don't you?” Like I see he’s devastated --- Bill Maher, he’s a nutjob. “You know he is going to win?” And the guest says, “no, no, we’re going to fight hard. We think we have a very good chance.” “No, no. he’s going to win. And then, you know what? He’s never leaving, don't you? He is never leaving. No, no. He’s never leaving. No, no. He’s got it work --- he will never leave. There’s no way.” And I used to think he was kidding. He’s not. He is a total nut job, this guy. [LAUGHTER]
