CPAC 2021 gets going today in Orlando with DeSantis speech, anticipation of Trump

The 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference kicks off its first day of panels and speakers today at the Hyatt Regency Orlando, all leading up to former President Trump’s speech Sunday in which he is expected to assert his continued control over the Republican Party.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is scheduled to welcome conservatives to Orlando this morning with a speech entitled, “Open for Business,” followed by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott headlining an afternoon panel on “The Way Forward: Unlocking Our Churches, Our Voices, and Our Social Media Accounts.”

DeSantis and Scott are among many potential 2024 GOP presidential candidates set to speak at the event, including U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, another 2024 contender, is not listed as attending.

But Trump, despite his loss to President Biden and his second impeachment and acquittal for inciting the pro-Trump mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, still looms over the event and the Republican Party.

Axios reported this week that Trump plans to declare that he is still the 2024 frontrunner, a contention that so far few Republicans have dared to counter.

The event was moved to Orlando after four decades in the Washington, D.C., area because coronavirus restrictions have closed the Maryland hotel where it has traditionally been held.

Both CPAC and the Hyatt vow that mask-wearing and social distancing will be strictly enforced. CPAC made headlines last year when a New Jersey doctor who attended and shook hands with multiple high-profile attendees tested positive for the coronavirus shortly afterward.

slemongello@orlandosentinel.com; swalker@orlandosentinel.com