Trump Fans Hope For a 2024 Run

“We’re ready for President Trump to come back.”

Trump fans eagerly await his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), his 1st appearance since leaving the White House

Former President Donald Trump will reassert himself as the Republican Party’s undisputed leader with a weekend speech to conservatives that highlights the disconnect between his most loyal supporters and those who want to find a new standard-bearer after the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump, who has teased the possibility of a White House run in 2024, isn’t likely to announce any concrete plans in the speech, senior adviser Jason Miller said. But in front of a half-dozen potential 2024 rivals, he will call out President Joe Biden’s agenda, rally loyalists and boast of “crushing” opposition within the party, according to a person familiar with his plans.

The former president speaks Sunday, capping off the annual Conservative Political Action Conference organized by the American Conservative Union -- an event that Trump pulled out of in 2016 rather than face rumblings of criticism about his party credentials.

Now, many Republicans who still find his political style distasteful and hold him responsible for the Jan. 6 Capitol assault were either not invited or declined to attend, and the conference, in Orlando, Florida, will be a celebration of all things Trump -- including his voter fraud allegations that helped spawn the riot.

Earlier this month, Trump was tried and acquitted in the Senate on a charge of incitement of insurrection after he encouraged supporters to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6 while Congress was ratifying Biden’s Electoral College victory. Ten House Republicans and seven GOP senators voted to hold him accountable, even as polls show nearly 90% of Republican voters believe he bears no responsibility for the riot that killed five people.

The CPAC attendees are among those steadfast loyalists. There are no fewer than seven sessions on “protecting elections” with panelists who have amplified the false claim that the November election was stolen, five on China’s growing influence around the globe and a grab bag of conservative discussions about cancel culture and deplatforming by social media companies.

The title of the event is “America Uncanceled.”

Beyond presidential candidates and conservative media figures, some speakers are from the fringe edges of the GOP. One scheduled speaker, the musician Young Pharaoh, was removed from the lineup after his past comments about “thieving fake Jews” were publicized.

Other speakers include Maj Toure, the founder of Black Guns Matter, and Cleta Mitchell, the attorney who was with Trump when he called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and told him to “find” more than 11,000 votes that would put him over the top in that state’s election. Mitchell resigned from her law firm after her attendance became known. Another speaker is author and journalist Alex Berenson, who has downplayed the coronavirus pandemic and cast doubt on the efficacy of masks and vaccines.

“They want the Republican Party to boldly fight for the things that they care about,” said ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp of the pro-Trump Republicans. “They are not going to be behind any candidate who’s going to go back to the old ways of just being careful and picking a fight here or there.”

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