Trump news - live: Trump rages at CPAC empty seats mockery as he posts about Murdoch at 3am on Truth Social

Donald Trump went on the defensive bright and early on Monday morning as he chafed over coverage of his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington DC over the weekend.

The former president contended that “you couldn’t get into the building” as he insisted that seating for his speech was filled and that his supporters had flocked to CPAC to see him.

The former president is facing mockery over the “half full” crowd which showed up to hear him speak at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the weekend.

“You saw the scenes at CPAC, that room was half-full,” ex-Gov Chris Christie said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The reason I don’t think the rallies are going on… I don’t think the rallies would be nearly as big as they were before.”

The former president also used CPAC to cement his 2024 White House run vowing to stay in the presidential race even if he is indicted in any of the multiple criminal investigations bearing down on him.

A straw poll taken during the event found that Mr Trump was the overwhelming GOP favourite, beating Ron DeSantis who did not attend.

Key points

• Trump mocked over ‘half full’ CPAC crowd

• Fact check: Trump’s lies at CPAC

• Trump says criminal charges won’t derail his 2024 bid

• Rupert Murdoch and Fox News sued for sharing Biden’s ads with Trump campaign

• Larry Hogan rules himself out of 2024 race

Donald Trump mocked for ‘half full’ CPAC event: ‘It’s TPAC, Trump PAC’

18:00 , John Bowden

Donald Trump has been mocked by Chris Christie over the poor turn out at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over the weekend.

Mr Christie, the one-time president’s former ally, reacted to the event in an interview on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.

“You saw the scenes at CPAC, that room was half full,” said the former New Jersey governor.

“What got him upset on January 6th? The crowd size. What got him upset on January 20th 2017? The crowd size. He measures that as an example of his own power and own authority, and I don’t think he has it anymore,” Mr Christie added.

Read more:

Donald Trump mocked for ‘half full’ CPAC event: ‘It’s TPAC, Trump PAC’

CPAC speaker sparks alarm with call for trans people to be ‘eradicated’

17:16 , John Bowden

Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire sparked widespread condemnations and disgust on Saturday with his anti-trans rhetoric made during his speech at CPAC.

“If [transgenderism] is false, then for the good of society, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely,” he said.

John Knefel of Media Matters called it “eliminationist, genocidal rhetoric”. Adam Vary of Variety urged people to “pay attention. This is genocidal. That is not hyperbole or alarmist; this rhetoric is calling for the eradication of a group of people for who they are”.

Mr Knowles, through a spokesperson, has since denied that he was speaking about violence against individuals, though he did not explain how “eradicating” transgenderism could be done without “eradicating” transgender people.

Read more:

CPAC speaker sparks alarm with call for transgenderism to be ‘eradicated’

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

16:00 , John Bowden

Where else on earth but the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) can you see a pillow salesman treated like royalty, with his own security detatchment?

Take a trip to National Harbor, Md, and catch up on the rage that infects the right-wing media sphere following Donald Trump’s unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

Read more:

The otherworldly atmosphere at CPAC as Trump waits in the wings

CPAC’s sea of empty seats: Trumpworld celebs address half-empty ballroom

15:00 , John Bowden

If the audience of CPAC 2023 was evidence of one thing, it was the increasingly rightward tilt of both the American Conservative Union which hosts the event, as well as the broader GOP activist base.

What could have been a massive “big tent” gathering of DC Republicans and their nationwide grassroots allies instead appeared to be more of a muted affair held to celebrate the glory of Donald Trump and his dominant but still incomplete segment of the Republican Party.

The split was evident in the crowd sizes at the event on Friday, when many big-name speakers including Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump Jr., and others were slated to speak. All of the above spoke to half-empty ballrooms which struggled to reach the same tenor and excitement of your average Trump rally.

John Bowden has more from the ground at CPAC:

Trumpworld celebs address half-empty CPAC as mainstream Republicans shy away

SNL cold open slays Fox News over Dominion defamation lawsuit

14:00 , Rachel Sharp

Saturday Night Live’s cold open went after Fox News over its conspicuous silence about damning revelations in a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems.

Internal communications and sworn depositions in the court battle have revealed that Fox’s star anchors and executives knew that Donald Trump’s false 2020 election fraud claims were bogus.

Since the allegations were made public in unsealed court filings last week, Fox News has barely acknowledged them.

Read the full story here:

SNL cold open slays Fox News over Dominion defamation lawsuit

Larry Hogan rules himself out of 2024 race

13:30 , Rachel Sharp

Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has ruled himself out of the 2024 race, after saying that he will not go head-to-head with Donald Trump.

The Republican, who has become one of the party’s fiercest critics of Mr Trump, wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times that he will not challenge the former president.

“I would never run for president to sell books or position myself for a Cabinet role,” he wrote.

“I have long said that I care more about ensuring a future for the Republican Party than securing my own future in the Republican Party. And that is why I will not be seeking the Republican nomination for president.”

While he said he appreciated “all those around the nation who have for many years encouraged me to run for president, after eight years of pouring my heart and soul into serving the people of Maryland, I have no desire to put my family through another grueling campaign just for the experience”.

Rupert Murdoch and Fox News sued for sharing Biden’s ads with Trump campaign before they aired

13:00 , Rachel Sharp

Rupert Murdoch and Fox News’ parent company are being sued over claims that they shared campaign strategy from Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential run with Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The suit filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by progressive activist group Media Matters on Friday alleges Fox made an illegal contribution to the Trump campaign when they shared his opponent’s ads before they had aired on the network.

“(Fox’s) actions are not only an egregious violation of the (Federal Election Campaign) Act and the Commission’s regulations, but also a nefarious attempt by people in power to operate a press entity as a political organisation, in blatant disregard of the rules that govern our elections and democracy,” Media Matters CEO and president Angelo Carusone writes in the filing, which was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

The Independent’s Bevan Hurley has the full story:

Rupert Murdoch and Fox News sued for sharing Biden’s ads with Trump campaign

WATCH: The five most bizarre lines from CPAC

12:30 , Rachel Sharp

VOICES: Donald Trump’s CPAC speech proves why he is a problem for the GOP

12:00 , Rachel Sharp

“In his keynote CPAC speech, Donald Trump once again demonstrated why his leadership of the Republican Party has led to electoral loss after electoral loss. His rambling speech was unlikely to appeal to anyone not already firmly ensconced in the conservative bubble. When he did settle into a coherent statement, it was more often than not a vicious attack on his Republican rivals.

“The combination is a looming nightmare for the GOP. Trump has no vision for the future himself and is determined to torch the party if it attempts to move on from him. The media loves Democrats in disarray stories, but Trump makes it clear that there is an almost limitless potential for Republican dysfunction in 2024.”

Noah Berlatsky writes for The Independent:

Donald Trump’s CPAC speech proves why he is a problem for the GOP

Fact check: Trump’s lies in CPAC speech

11:50 , Rachel Sharp

During Donald Trump’s speech at CPAC over the weekend, he continued to spew a series of lies.

A CNN fact check tallied up at least 23 falsehoods covering topics including crime, the war in Ukraine, the border wall – and of course the 2020 election.

“I won the second election, OK, won it by a lot. You know, when they say, when they say Biden won, the smart people know that didn’t [happen],” he claimed.

Of course, Mr Trump did not win the 2020 election. He lost by more than 7 million votes.

Other lies included his claim that he “completed” the construction of the border wall between the US and Mexico – something which is irrefutably untrue.

Donald Trump vows ‘retribution’ and will stay in 2024 race if he faces criminal charges

11:40 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump is vowing to stay in the 2024 presidential race even if he is indicted in any of the multiple criminal investigations bearing down on him.

“Absolutely, I wouldn’t even think about leaving,” the former president told reporters ahead of his speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, speculating that being the target of a criminal indictment could even “enhance” his poll numbers.

During his remarks, Mr Trump vowed to take revenge against Democrats, the media, and even fellow Republicans who opposed him.

“In 2016, I declared: I am your voice,” he told the crowd. “Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.”

The Independent’s John Bowden has the story:

Donald Trump vows to stay in 2024 race if he faces criminal charges

Trump wins huge majority in CPAC 2024 straw poll

11:35 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump was the overwhelming winner of the CPAC 2024 straw poll on Saturday, taking 62 per cent of the vote at the gathering of his loyalists on the Potomac.

The result was a predictable certain; the three-day Trumpfest was little more than a gathering of Trump campaign and former administration personnel and many attendees were draped in Trump campain attire, official or otherwise.

The former president’s team immediately blasted out the results of the straw poll to their supporters, writing that Mr Trump had “dominated” the field.

Read the full story here:

Trump wins huge majority in CPAC 2024 straw poll as DeSantis trails in distant second

Trump is mocked over ‘half full’ CPAC crowd

11:27 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump is facing mockery over the “half full” crowd which showed up to hear him speak at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Sunday.

Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor and onetime close ally of Mr Trump, poked fun at the size of the crowd who attended the former president’s speech at the weekend.

“You saw the scenes at CPAC, that room was half-full,” Mr Christie said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The reason I don’t think the rallies are going on… I don’t think the rallies would be nearly as big as they were before.”

He added: “There are lots of indicators here, that he’s not what he used to be, in most respects, you’re talking about and so we’re going to see how that plays out.”

Mr Trump gave a headline speech at CPAC, where he spewed his election lies and vowed to stay in the 2024 race even if he is criminally charged.

Yet, the room was not even close to full capacity.

Mr Christie has become a vocal critic of Mr Trump.

The two men were once close allies with Mr Christie working on the former president’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns before their relationship soured.

11:22 , Rachel Sharp

Welcome toThe Independent’s liveblog where you can find all the latest developments in Trumpworld.