Former president Donald Trump addressed a packed Maryland auditorium during the closing day of the latest CPAC event, delivering the type of messages that propelled him to the White House in 2016 and walking away with a huge majority in their presidential straw poll.
Trump’s energy and eloquence are always in stark contrast to the bumbling and stammering Americans have had to endure under Joe Biden. Moreover, his messages were focused on what Americans care about and want from their nation and leader.
“If you put me back in the White House, their reign is over,” Trump said in reference to entrenched powers in the federal government. “Their reign will be over. And they know and America will be a free nation once again.”
“We’re not a free nation right now,” he continued, lamenting the decline of liberty and truth in the United States. “We don’t have a free press. We don’t have free anything. In 2016 I declared I am your voice. Today I add. I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I am your retribution. Not gonna let this let it happen. I will totally obliterate the deep state. I will fire you.”
President Trump at @CPAC:
“I am your retribution.” 🔥🔥🔥
— Danny De Urbina (@dannydeurbina) March 4, 2023
Trump’s entire speech was delivered to a standing-room-only crowd, which clearly sees him as the frontrunner for the 2024 nomination. Fox News reported that a straw poll conducted at the popular conference gave him three times as much support for a third consecutive White House as the next most popular candidate, Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Fox wrote:
Trump won 62% support in the poll, which was announced shortly before he was scheduled to speak to the crowd gathered at the Gaylord in Fort Washington, Maryland.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in as second choice with 20% support. The third-place pick at 5% support was long-shot GOP candidate Perry Johnson, a businessman who attempted to run for governor in Michigan but was blocked from participating in the Republican primary.
DeSantis, who delivered the best model for individual freedom over the past few years, was also the runner-up for a vice presidential straw poll. In that contest, he was narrowly edged by former Arizona gubernatorial candodate Kari Lake, whose campaign matched the rhetoric and energy of a Trump campaign in 2022. Fox continued:
Kari Lake, the Republican Arizona gubernatorial nominee in 2022, received the most support for vice presidential candidate with 20%. DeSantis received 14% support for the 2024 vice presidential nominee in the CPAC poll. Over 2,000 attendees completed the poll, organizers said.
On never returning to the status quo of Establishment neocons and D.C. unipartiers, Trump said, “We had a Republican Party that was ruled by freaks, neocons, globalists, open border zealots, and fools, but we are never going back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove, and Jeb Bush!”
President Trump: "We had a Republican Party that was ruled by freaks, neocons, globalists, open border zealots, and fools, but we are never going back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove, and Jeb Bush!" pic.twitter.com/qP59PZw8vN
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) March 4, 2023
Speaking about another hot-button issue, Trump laid out an agenda for dealing with massive and unsustainable surges in immigration: “Under my leadership, we will use all necessary state, local, federal and military resources to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history. We will pick them up, and we will throw them out of our country and there will be no questions asked”
President Trump Lays Out His Mass Deportation Plan
"Under my leadership, we will use all necessary state, local, federal and military resources to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history."
"We will pick them up, and we will throw them out of our… https://t.co/cvmphnX62N pic.twitter.com/abFwpCeVxR
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) March 4, 2023
Featured image; Screen shot from embedded Twitter video.
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