CPAC 2023 – live: Panellists attack Fauci, journalists and migrants as Nikki Haley, Matt Gaetz, MTG and Kari Lake set to speak

Criticism of Joe Biden’s administration, the Chinese surveillance balloon, attacks on transgender Americans and “wokeness” are recurrent themes at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, a four-day gathering for right-wing activists and Republican officials from across the US.

In a joint appearance, Ted Cruz and JD Vance elevated the “lab leak” theory concerning the origins of Covid-19 and raged against Dr Anthony Fauci as the crowd chanted “lock him up”. Other panelists repeatedly returned to familiar conservative grievances and took aim at fentanyl overdoses and immigration, waged anti-trans attacks and criticised the “liberal media,” with several panelists joking about “hunting the media for sport.”

Donald Trump will be Saturday night’s headliner once again, seeking to re-establish his grip over the Republican Party. Meanwhile, American Conservative Union chair Matt Schlapp, whose organisation runs the conference and who has served as a key figure elevating the former president and his movement, faces accusations of sexual misconduct from a former Republican campaign aide.

Key Points

• Crowd boos footage of Fauci as Cruz and Vance elevate ‘lab leak’ theory

• Fentanyl panic stories hit the stage

• Panelists joke about killings journalists

• Libs of TikTok founder hailed as a ‘hero’ as panelists mock trans people

• Matt Schlapp avoids questions on allegations against him

Trump continues media vendettas after being ‘soft banned’ by Fox

11:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Deep within the bowels of Mar-a-Lago, from behind a greasy keyboard and mounds of McDonald’s wrappers, Trump continues to rebuke Rupert Murdoch, now demanding that he apologise to his viewers. That’s really not likely to happen is it?

He also says it’s finally time to call out “fake news”, which is a war cry he has been personally issuing from the better part of a decade by this point but OK sure.

In another Truth Social post, he says that rumours suggest the “idiot” Paul Ryan, a former House speaker turned Fox board member, will be fired “like a dog” (ah, how nice to hear that one again) for wrongly, he says, insisting that the 2020 election was all “peaches and cream”.

Here’s more on Fox reportedly quietly withdrawing mention of Trump from the airwaves.

Trump ‘soft banned’ from Fox News amid uproar over coverage of election lies

Trump urges courts to throw out ‘frivolous’ police lawsuits after Justice Department ruling

10:30 , Joe Sommerlad

Back on Truth Social, Trump has responded to the Justice Department’s ruling that DC police officers can sue over the Capitol riot with an earnest statement in which he insists his speech that day “repeatedly called for peace, patriotism and respect for our men and women of law enforcement”, which is not how many will remember it.

He urges the courts to throw out any such “frivolous” legal challenges “in short order” and invoked presidential immunity, arguing that, without it, Joe Biden could be prosecuted over the Afghanistan withdrawal, illegal immigration from Mexico, the opioid epidemic and the “many other terrible crises that he has caused”.

Or, to put it in a slightly more unhinged format:

Here’s more on the Justice Department’s determination.

Trump can be sued by police over Jan 6, Justice Department says

DeSantis and Pence are too boring for CPAC, according to Trump

10:00 , Alex Woodward

Trump says he’s preparing a “monster speech” to cap off 2023’s CPAC conference at his Saturday appearance.

His potential 2024 GOP rivals, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence, won’t be there. They’re too boring to make an appearance, accordingto the former president.

“The only reason certain ‘candidates’ won’t be going to CPAC is because the crowds have no interest in anything they have to say. They’ve heard it all before, and don’t want to hear it again,” he wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.

Trump says Pence and DeSantis too boring for CPAC as he’s preparing ‘monster’ speech

ICYMI: Fentanyl panic stories hit the stage at CPAC

09:00 , Alex Woodward

In a panel on US-Mexico border security and the import of fentanyl, Republican US Rep Mark Green revived a familiar and false trope about the synthetic opioid on CPAC panel on Thursday.

News outlets have repeatedly picked up local police warnings about dollar bills laced with fentanyl, and police agencies have repeatedly claimed that officers have experienced overdoses or faced some kind of exposure illness after coming in contact with the drug.

Multiple assessments from toxicologists, public health experts, drug policy researchers and law enforcement agencies’ own guidance when it comes to fentanyl have debunked those claims, which continue to make headlines despite their spurious contents.

“Pick up a dollar, and it’s got fentanyl on it, and you’re dead,” Mr Green said at CPAC on Thursday. That is false; it is not possible to experience such a reaction from merely touching the drug.

“Every American,” he claimed, “is at risk” from fentanyl.

ICYMI: Trump-era ICE director says he does not ‘give a s***’ about being sued over family separation policy

08:00 , Alex Woodward

Republican officials suddenly concerned with the mounting crisis facing people fleeing South American and Central American regimes at the US-Mexico border after Trump left the White House are calling for the impeachment of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Former ICE director Tom Homan – who said that Mr Mayorkas has “blood on his hands” for fentanyl deaths – repeatedly, falsely suggested that there were fewer acts of violence against people crossing the southern border under the Trump administration.

Human rights watchdogs uncovered “massive human rights violations against migrants and asylum seekers” after Trump implemented the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy in 2019. Nearly 70,000 people were impacted by the policy, but fewer than 53,000 people – less than one percent – were granted relief.

Advocates and government agencies also uncovered chaos from the Trump-era Title 42 policy, which prevented people from seeking asylum under US and international accords, and a family separation policy that removed hundreds of children from their families at border crossings.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about the family separation. And I’m still being sued about that. I don’t give a s****,” he said.

Deaths from synthetic opioids soared under Trump’s presidency, from 28,659 annual overdose-related deaths in 2017 to more than 56,000 in his final full year in office in 2020. Deaths have continued to climb, with 71,238 in 2021, the most recent data from the CDC, which notes the increase was half of what it was a year earlier, when overdose deaths rose by 30 per cent from 2019 to 2020.

“No one did more, bottom line” on immigration than Trump, Mr Homan claimed. He said he offered to work for free because he is so “p***** off”.

Brick suits, lawsuits, insults and pillows: The otherworldly atmosphere at CPAC

07:00 , John Bowden

While celebrations of Donald Trump and a rallying cry for 2024 were clearly a central part of day one of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), they were far from the only emotions in the air.

There was also a deep anger at the mainstream news press, which they argued was nothing more but a tool of the Democratic Party. There was frequent griping from many in attendance about the apparent blacklisting of election deniers by the biggest right-wing networks like Fox News and Newsmax.

Some, like podcaster and noted sidewalk-parker Sebastian Gorka were utterly hamfisted in their critiques. Mr Gorka was spotted yelling at The Bulwark’s Tim Miller that he was “f***ing fake news” and should “go to hell”, before he told The Independent’s correspondent minutes later that he should “get a real job”.

Experience day one of CPAC 2023 with John Bowden:

The otherworldly atmosphere at CPAC as Trump waits in the wings

GOP congressman calls Mark Milley a ‘traitor’ and claims children are ‘not safe’ in school

06:00 , Alex Woodward

During a CPAC panel on Thursday, far-right congressman Ralph Norman of South Carolina called Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Mark Milley – a decorated service member and highest-ranking military officer in the nation’s armed forces – “a traitor”.

Moments earlier at his CPAC appearance alongside US Rep Scott Perry, Mr Norman dismissed Vice President Kamala Harris as “the giggler” as he mentioned the possibility of impeaching Joe Biden and lambasted the Biden administration and its response to the Chinese surveillance balloon.

Mr Perry said breaches into American airspace should be “met with maximum force” against China.

In his closing remarks on the panel, Mr Norman claimed that “our children are not safe” in America’s schools, amplifying right-wing moral panic involving teachers, LGBT+ rights and discussion of race and racism in classrooms and workplaces.

“What’s happening to them … is evil,” he said.

Trump can be sued by police over Jan 6, Justice Department says

04:00 , Alex Woodward

Attorneys for the Justice Department’s civil rights division determined that the realm of protected speech from the president “does not include incitement of imminent private violence” as a group of US Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers seek to hold Mr Trump accountable for the Capitol riot in a lawsuit.

An appeals court reviewing the lawsuit turned to the Justice Department for an opinion in December.

“Presidents may at times use strong rhetoric. And some who hear that rhetoric may overreact, or even respond with violence,” attorneys for the Justice Department said on Thursday.

“Just as denying First Amendment protection to incitement does not unduly chill speech in general, denying absolute immunity to incitement of imminent private violence should not unduly chill the President in the performance of his traditional function of speaking to the public on matters of public concern,” they added.

Trump can be sued by police over Jan 6, Justice Department says

America’s Frontline Doctors, the Covid denialist organisation sponsoring CPAC

03:00 , Alex Woodward

This year’s CPAC is sponsored by one of the “top purveyors” of Covid-19 misinformation, accotding to a member of Congress, and has been compared to a modern snake-oil salesman.

The group, called America’s Frontline Doctors , passes itself as any other medical organisation, but public health experts and critics say it has promoted pseudoscientific Covid cures like using horse dewormer, fostered anti-vaccine sentiment, and abused donor funds.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus reports:

What is America’s Frontline Doctors, the Covid denial organisation sponsoring CPAC?

House Republicans hang Oversight chair James Comer out to dry after shocking Beau Biden remarks

01:00 , Alex Woodward

Oversight Committee chairman James Comer drew outrage from the White House and veterans groups after he suggested that Beau Biden, the late Delaware attorney general and son of President Joe Biden, should have faced criminal charges over a Delaware political scandal in which he was found to have done nothing wrong.

House Republicans at CPAC declined to defend – or condemn – the congressman during Thursday’s events.

Several Republicans, including Matt Gaetz and Ralph Norman, told The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg that they hadn’t seen Comer’s comments.

House Republicans hang James Comer out to dry after shocking Beau Biden remarks

‘In a really embarrassing CPAC speech, cool dads Ted Cruz and JD Vance tell it like it is'

00:00 , Alex Woodward

The Independent’s Holly Baxter writes:

In a cringe CPAC speech, cool dads Ted Cruz and JD Vance tell it like it is

Trump and DeSantis to visit Iowa within days of one another

Thursday 2 March 2023 23:05 , Alex Woodward

On 10 March, Ron DeSantis is set to visit Iowa, long considered the benchmark for presidential candidates’ political viability with its “first in the nation” primary election status.

The Florida governor will visit Davenport and Des Moines to promote his new book, The Courage to Be Free, according to the Associated Press.

Three days later, Donald Trump will be there.

DeSantis will not be at this year’s CPAC; Trump is headlining on Saturday.

Underscoring the division over the GOP’s future, the governor is expected to attend a Club for Growth’s private retreat in Florida, where Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu are expectedto attend. None are on the CPAC schedule.

There’s been little if any mention of Fox at CPAC . Then the CEO of Newsmax brought up the lawsuit

Thursday 2 March 2023 22:30 , Alex Woodward

This year’s CPAC does not appear to have coverage sponsorship from Fox News, while competing outlet Newsmax is listed as a presenting sponsor and far-right streaming service Real America’s Voice is named as one of four participating sponsors.

There’s been little if any mention of Fox or the Dominion lawsuit against the network, including revelations that the network’s top stars, executives and producers privately rejected bogus claims of election fraud that were amplified on air.

Newsmax also was sued by Dominion over similar false claims about the voting machine company; the network retracted some of its reporting as part of a settlement in a separate suit.

At CPAC, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said that if the Fox case was in federal court it would be thrown out.

Here’s what the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News uncovered:

Fox News, the Murdochs and backstage Trump whispers: The damning Dominion revelations

Kimberly Guilfoyle poses with Mike Lindell

Thursday 2 March 2023 22:20 , Alex Woodward and John Bowden

A CPAC moment: Former Trump adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr, posed with pillow salesman and conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell.

Mr Lindell, who is scheduled to address the conference on Saturday three hours before the former president closes out the day’s events.

Ms Guilfoyle is scheduled to speak on Friday.

Sebastian Gorka rages at journalists at CPAC hallway

Thursday 2 March 2023 21:55 , Alex Woodward and John Bowden

Former Trump administration aide and current right-wing podcaster Sebastian Gorka raged at several reporters, including The Independent’s John Bowden, inside a CPAC hallway on Thursday.

He told political strategist Tim Miller of the Showtime series The Circus to “go to hell” and that he is “f****** fake news”.

He called The Independent’s Washington reporter a “coward,” “fake news” and to get a “real job”.

Mike Lindell is latest Trump ally to turn on Fox News despite using network to advertise his pillows

Thursday 2 March 2023 21:30 , Alex Woodward

Pillow salesman and conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell on Thursday spent a portion of his day at the CPAC shouting about Fox News – a television network on which he frequently advertises – and airing grievances about House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to let one of that network’s hosts access footage from the January 6 Capitol riot.

Mike Lindell is latest Trump ally to turn on Fox News despite advertising on network

‘Ted Cruz at CPAC: From presidential candidate to boorish podcast host'

Thursday 2 March 2023 21:13 , Alex Woodward

The Independent’s Richard Hall writes:

Ted Cruz at CPAC: From presidential candidate to boorish podcast host

Florida Senator Rick Scott takes the stage with a grim picture of America

Thursday 2 March 2023 21:00 , Alex Woodward

Florida Senator Rick Scott entered the CPAC stage to announce that President Joe Biden and “the US Senate, the news media, the Democratic party, academia, Hollywood, Wall Street and many of our big corporations” are “destroying the country.”

He mentioned some version of “destroy out country” roughly half a dozen times within his first minute on stage, then outlined Democratic officials’ “evil plan” bloated with right-wing grievances.

”My message to you is this. People in Washington who don’t like me, they’re not very fond of you either,” he said. “This is the time we have to rescue this country.”

He called for CPAC to get more “active,” echoing other attendees who have urged right-wing Americans to get more involved in local campaigns for school boards and other races to inject a CPAC agenda at the local level.

Full story: CPAC crowd boos Anthony Fauci during cable news compilation on Covid origins

Thursday 2 March 2023 20:30 , Alex Woodward

A crowd of attendees at CPAC jeered and shouted “lock him up” when an image of Dr Anthony Fauci appeared on screen during the event.

CPAC crowd boos Anthony Fauci during cable news compilation on Covid origins

Fentanyl panic stories hit the stage at CPAC

Thursday 2 March 2023 20:08 , Alex Woodward

In a panel on US-Mexico border security and the import of fentanyl, Republican US Rep Mark Green revived a familiar and false trope about the synthetic opioid.

News outlets have repeatedly picked up local police warnings about dollar bills laced with fentanyl, and police agencies have repeatedly claimed that officers have experienced overdoses or faced some kind of exposure illness after coming in contact with the drug.

Multiple assessments from toxicologists, public health experts, drug policy researchers and law enforcement agencies’ own guidance when it comes to fentanyl have debunked those claims, which continue to make headlines despite their spurious contents.

“Pick up a dollar, and it’s got fentanyl on it, and you’re dead,” Mr Green said at CPAC on Thursday. That is false; it is not possible to experience such a reaction from merely touching the drug.

“Every American,” he claimed, “is at risk” from fentanyl.

Full story: Trump can be sued by police over Jan 6, Justice Department says

Thursday 2 March 2023 20:00 , Alex Woodward

The Justice Department has asked a federal court to let a group of police officers and members of Congress proceed with a lawsuit seeking damages against former president Donald Trump for his role in inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Trump can be sued by police over Jan 6, Justice Department says

Former ICE director says he does not ‘give a s***’ about being sued over family separations under Trump

Thursday 2 March 2023 19:54 , Alex Woodward

Republican officials suddenly concerned with the mounting crisis facing people fleeing South American and Central American regimes at the US-Mexico border after Trump left the White House are calling for the impeachment of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Former ICE director Tom Homan – who said that Mr Mayorkas has “blood on his hands” for fentanyl deaths – repeatedly, falsely suggested that there were fewer acts of violence against people crossing the southern border under the Trump administration.

Human rights watchdogs uncovered “massive human rights violations against migrants and asylum seekers” after Trump implemented the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy in 2019. Nearly 70,000 people were impacted by the policy, but fewer than 53,000 people – less than one percent – were granted relief.

Advocates and government agencies also uncovered chaos from the Trump-era Title 42 policy, which prevented people from seeking asylum under US and international accords, and a family separation policy that removed hundreds of children from their families at border crossings.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about the family separation. And I’m still being sued about that. I don’t give a s****,” he said.

Deaths from synthetic opioids soared under Trump’s presidency, from 28,659 annual overdose-related deaths in 2017 to more than 56,000 in his final full year in office in 2020. Deaths have continued to climb, with 71,238 in 2021, the most recent data from the CDC, which notes the increase was half of what it was a year earlier, when overdose deaths rose by 30 per cent from 2019 to 2020.

“No one did more, bottom line” on immigration than Trump, Mr Homan claimed. He said he offered to work for free because he is so “p***** off”.

Ted Cruz on Pete Buttigieg: ‘What the hell else does this guy need to do to get fired?’

Thursday 2 March 2023 19:19 , Alex Woodward

Ted Cruz, who traveled to Cancun during his state’s chaotic winter storm crisis in 2021, claimed that Democratic officials do not care about the crisis unfolding in East Palestine, Ohio following a rail disaster and urgent environment and health concerns that followed.

The Texas senator claimed that because the area leans Republican, Democratic officials have effectively given up on its recovery.

“If you were a bunch of transgender tech workers, get the entire Biden cabinet down there to hold a sit in and feel their pain,” he said.

He also joined a chorus of criticism against Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“What the hell else does this guy need to do to get fired?” he said.

Trump ‘soft banned’ from Fox News amid clash with Murdoch over election lies coverage

Thursday 2 March 2023 19:00 , Alex Woodward

Trump’s campaign team reportedly said he is being "soft banned" by Fox News, claiming the Murdoch family wants to "move on" from the former president.

The ban was first reported in Semafor, which cited four members of Mr Trump's "inner circle" on condition of anonymity.

Trump ‘soft banned’ from Fox News amid uproar over coverage of election lies

CPAC crowds boo video footage of Fauci as Ted Cruz and JD Vance amplify ‘lab leak’ theory

Thursday 2 March 2023 18:52 , Alex Woodward

CPAC crowds booed footage of news network hosts and Dr Anthony Fauci as senators Ted Cruz and JD Vance amplified a “lab leak” theory surrounding Covid-19’s origins.

Right-wing commentators and GOP officials have repeatedly amplified the theory and claimed that recent reports corroborate their claims, while the US government has “low confidence” in the theory, meaning that “the information used in the analysis is scant, questionable, fragmented, or that solid analytical conclusions cannot be inferred from the information.”

There is no consensus about its origin. Four of eight US intelligence agencies have leaned toward a natural origin for the virus, with “low confidence,” while two of them — the Department of Energy and the FBI — have “moderate confidence” in the lab theory.

Alabama senator attacks trans athletes in remarks against ‘the woke playbook'

Thursday 2 March 2023 18:43 , Alex Woodward

Another CPAC panel rejected transgender Americans and honest teachings on race, racism and LGBT+ people featured former college football turned Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, who listed off a string of right-wing targets in a series of baseless statements against trans athletes and US education.

“All this woke, transgender athletes, CRT, 1619, they don’t teach reading, writing or arithmetic,” the senator said.

His remarks on a “Sacking the Woke Playbook” panel dismissed transgender girls and women as “biological boys” who he said should not be playing in any school sport at any age level.

He said that sports must be “protected” because “sports have built this country”.

The senator also falsely claimed that “half the kids when they graduate they can’t read their diploma” as he condemned “the progressives, the crazies” who are “trying to change family, change things that are our moral values”.

At least 150 bills across the US this year would specifically restrict the rights of trans people, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Where’s Ted Cruz?

Thursday 2 March 2023 18:15 , David Taintor

There seems to have been a last-minute schedule change at CPAC. Sen Ted Cruz was scheduled to host a segment of his “Verdict” podcast after Sen John Kennedy of Louisiana spoke. However, CPAC head Matt Schlapp and CPAC senior fellow Mercedes Schlapp filled in for a segment before the programme moved on to Sen Tommy Tuberville for a panel on “Sacking the Woke Playbook”.

It’s possible a schedule snafu caused the lineup change. CPAC’s schedule notes that “agenda times and sessions are subject to change”.

Trump can be sued by police and lawmakers over Jan 6 attack, Justice Department says

Thursday 2 March 2023 18:14 , Alex Woodward

Trump can be held liable for the actions of a violent mob that launched an attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021, the US Department of Justice has determined.

Attorneys for the Justice Department’s civil rights division determined that the realm of protected speech from the president “does not include incitement of imminent private violence” as a group of US Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers seek to hold Mr Trump accountable for the Capitol riot in a lawsuit.

An appeals court reviewing the lawsuit turned to the Justice Department for an opinion in December.

“Presidents may at times use strong rhetoric. And some who hear that rhetoric may overreact, or even respond with violence,” attorneys for the Justice Department said on Thursday.

“Just as denying First Amendment protection to incitement does not unduly chill speech in general, denying absolute immunity to incitement of imminent private violence should not unduly chill the President in the performance of his traditional function of speaking to the public on matters of public concern,” they added.

Louisiana senator’s remarks list GOP priorities injected with his faux folksy aphorisms

Thursday 2 March 2023 17:51 , Alex Woodward

Republican US Senator John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana, making the first major solo speech at this year’s CPAC, listed off GOP priorities to defend America as a “star-spangled awesome” place to live

The senator – a former Democratic official and Oxford grad – has revved up his accent and use of folksy aphorisms in his time in Washington.

“I wonder how some people in Washington DC actually made it through the birth canal,” he said.

He revived a well-worn joke about kale aimed at American liberals (“Kale tastes like I wanna be fat”) and called the city of Chicago “the world’s largest outdoor shooting range”.

“The Washington elites … they may call us deplorables, they may think we are not real people, but we are real people and we need to get real mad,” he told the crowd. “So join with me, help me fight for America. We will win this fight if we just remember who we are as Americans.”

CPAC panelists joke about killings journalists

Thursday 2 March 2023 17:37 , Alex Woodward

In a panel titled “Don Lemon Is Past His Primetime,” right-wing media personalities criticised the CNN anchor and mocked what they characterised as an unfair liberal media and repeatedly joked about trans people.

Panelist L Brent Bozell III, the founder of conservative watchdog group the Media Research Center, said journalists have “never held a real job”.

Town Hall columnist Kurt Schlichter said journalists are “too dumb to do anything else” and “the enemy”.

“They want to be gatekeepers. They want to set the agenda,” he said.

At one point, he mentioned serving in the Gulf War – “when America won wars and the Pentagon knew which bathroom to use” – and recalled a service member asking if he can kill journalists.

“’Sir, if we have any reporters around, can I shoot ‘em?’” he said as panelists laughed.

“I would never advocate hunting the media for sport,” he added.

CPAC hosts hail Libs of TikTok founder as a ‘hero’ as panelists mock trans people

Thursday 2 March 2023 17:08 , Alex Woodward

With her Libs of TikTok accounts and attacks against LGBT+ people, teachers and doctors, Chaya Raichik has emerged as an influential right-wing media figure, making appearances on Tucker Carlson’s programming and Newsmax, with nearly 2 million followers on Twitter and a high-earning blog.

She also has dined with Donald Trump. And on Thursday, she stepped onto the CPAC stage shortly before noon on Thursday alongside several right-wing media personalities to criticise what they have characterised as an unfair liberal media.

Libs of TikTok has been inked to harassment and threats against drag performers, LGBT+ people and their advocates, particularly teachers, as well as doctors and hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to young trans people. Hours after five people were killed and several others were wounded inside a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBT+ nightclub, Libs of TikTok drew negative attention to a drag performance in the state.

On Thursday at CPAC, she was hailed as a “hero” and “courageous” as panelists joked about trans people and pronouns.

She called a recent VICE profile previewing her CPAC appearance as an “insane hit piece”.

“Nothing I love more than to mock and clown the liberal media,” she said.

Panelist L Brent Bozell III, the founder of conservative watchdog group the Media Research Center, mocked trans people by joking that “if I ever transition I want to be Chaya.”

CPAC panelists target China over US farmland. How much do Chinese entities actually own?

Thursday 2 March 2023 16:43 , Alex Woodward

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn accused “the Chinese Community Party” of stealing American intellectual property, spying on Americans and their children, and owning thousands of acres of US farmland, suggesting that China is purposefully developing land near sensitive US military sites.

China owns roughly 384,000 acres of US agricultural land, according to a 2021 report from the US Department of Agriculture. Roughly 195,000 acres, worth nearly $2bn when purchased, are owned by 85 Chinese investors, which could be individuals, companies or the government.

Another 189,000 of those acres, worth $235m, are owned by 62 US corporations with Chinese shareholders.

But of the 109 countries that own US agricultural land, China ranks eighteenth. Canada, easily in the No 1 spot, owns 12.8 million acres. China even falls behind the Cayman Islands, which owns 672,000 acres.

Chinese-linked entities acquired 32,000 acres in 2021, fewer than what was purchased in 2020, but 98 per cent more than combined growth between 2015 and 2019, according to Forbes.

Republican Scott Perry threatens to eliminate office space for agencies that don’t cooperate with GOP oversight

Thursday 2 March 2023 16:26 , Alex Woodward

House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry at CPAC on Thursday threatened to eliminate federal office space for agencies if Biden administration officials don’t comply with oversight demands from House Republicans.

Scott Perry threatens to eliminate office space if officials don’t testify

Trump claims Pence and DeSantis are too boring for CPAC

Thursday 2 March 2023 16:12 , Alex Woodward

Trump criticised his vice president Mike Pence and potential 2024 rival Ron DeSantis or skipping this week’s CPAC.

“The only reason certain ‘candidates’ won’t be going to CPAC is because the crowds have no interest in anything they have to say. They’ve heard it all before, and don’t want to hear it again,” he wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.

Trump says Pence and DeSantis too boring for CPAC as he’s preparing ‘monster’ speech

GOP congressman calls Mark Milley a ‘traitor’ and claims children are ‘not safe’ in school

Thursday 2 March 2023 16:11 , Alex Woodward

Far-right congressman Ralph Norman of South Carolina called Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Mark Milley – a decorated service member and highest-ranking military officer in the nation’s armed forces – “a traitor”.

Moments earlier at his CPAC appearance alongside US Rep Scott Perry, Mr Norman dismissed Vice President Kamala Harris as “the giggler” as he mentioned the possibility of impeaching Joe Biden and lambasted the Biden administration and its response to the Chinese surveillance balloon.

Mr Perry said breaches into American airspace should be “met with maximum force” against China.

In his closing remarks on the panel, Mr Norman claimed that “our children are not safe” in America’s schools, amplifying right-wing moral panic involving teachers, LGBT+ rights and discussion of race and racism in classrooms and workplaces.

“What’s happening to them … is evil,” he said.

Trump says potential 2024 rivals aren’t at CPAC ‘because the crowds have no interest'

Thursday 2 March 2023 15:41 , Alex Woodward

The conference known for hoisting a golden Trump statue and platforming an array of far-right figures is reportedly losing interest from many potential 2024 contenders and high-profile Republican officials.

Not appearing at CPAC this week: potential GOP presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence.

Donald Trump says he knows why:

“The only reason certain ‘candidates’ won’t be going to CPAC is because the crowds have no interest in anything they have to say,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.

“They’ve heard it all before, and don’t want to hear it again,” he said. “But my speech, on Saturday night, is already a sold out ‘monster.’”

He said his speech will discuss “the fact that, obviously, our Country is going to ‘HELL,’ and how to fix it.”

Schlapp suggests House Republicans should impeach Biden cabinet

Thursday 2 March 2023 15:35 , Alex Woodward

Standing next to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan on the CPAC stage, Matt Schlapp asked the crowd whether they want to see Joe Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas impeached. The crowd cheered.

“Is this the most incompetent cabinet group we’ve ever seen?” he asked Mr Jordan. “This impeachment word … how do you handle all the wrongdoing?”

He later asked the crowd if they want House Republicans to impeach Mr Mayorkas.