TITLE: CPAC denies report Nazis, white supremacists openly attended its annual summit
https://www.timesofisrael.com/nazis-white-supremacists-openly-attend-annual-cpac-conservative-summit-report/
EXCERPT: In the past extreme racists have been kicked out of the event as it worked to distance itself from the fringes of the conservative moments, the report said, noting that white supremacist Nick Fuentes is among those who have been ejected in previous years.
One of those who participated in the CPAC 2024 was Ryan Sanchez, a past figure in the Nazi Rise Above Movement, the report said, who took photos of himself as he sported an official badge and bragged of his ties to Fuentes.
According to the network, other attendees who were with Sanchez openly used the N-word. It noted there was no obvious pushback against those who peddled racist conspiracy theories.
One group reportedly identifying themselves as national socialists talked about “race science” and held discussions with, among others, figures from Turning Point USA, which advocates conservative politics in high schools and on college campuses.
Greg Conte, a member of the national socialists group who was at the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, said his organization specifically wanted to talk with media at CPAC and that its members were prepared to be removed from the conference if organizers were alerted to their presence.
According to the report, the group’s members remained though it was unclear whether organizers were aware of their activities.
CPAC has in the past worked to distance itself from the far-right extremes of the conservative movement in the US, and embraced debate around Trump and moderates, the report noted.
In its response, CPAC said: “When we come across someone at CPAC peddling any kind of antisemitism, we deal with them immediately. Knowing this, NBC weaved together lies and fabrications to create a false perception, and we won’t stand by idly while NBC engages in willful misinformation.”
NBC said the recent conference frustrated some attendees with its focus on Trump and his supporters.
Addressing the conference, conservative personality Jack Posobiec urged an end to democracy and its replacement with a Christian-focused government, though he later claimed he was being partly satirical.
Elsewhere at the conference, a pinball machine made light of the 2021 assault on the US Capitol. “J6 Insurrection” — an “educational documentary game” — was one of the hottest attractions.
The game could be played in several modes with names such as “Fake News,” “Political Prisoners” and “Stop the Steal” that dovetail with the right-wing conspiracy theory that the rioters were set up by the Democratic “Deep State.”
“The intent of this was to trigger people, I guess, and it definitely did that,” said Jon Linowes, a Trump-supporting software developer who came up with the concept.
Billed as the “largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world,” this year’s CPAC comes eight months before the presidential election, with Trump vowing “retribution” against political opponents if he is reelected.
Once a showcase of robust ideas competing for primacy in the conservative movement, the conference has become a demonstration of the ideological transition that Republicans have been through to redraw the party in Trump’s image.
In his speech Saturday, the former US president cast November’s presidential election as “judgment day” and declared himself a “proud political dissident.”
Trump painted an apocalyptic vision of the future if US President Joe Biden wins a second term as the two prepare for an expected rematch election.
“For hardworking Americans, Nov. 5 will be our new liberation day. But for the liars and cheaters and fraudsters and censors and imposters who have commandeered our government, it will be judgment day,” he said to loud applause. “When we win, the curtain closes on their corrupt reign and the sun rises on a bright new future for America.”
TITLE: I went to CPAC as an anthropologist to understand Trump’s base − they believe, more than ever, he is a savior
https://theconversation.com/i-went-to-cpac-as-an-anthropologist-to-understand-trumps-base-they-believe-more-than-ever-he-is-a-savior-224205
EXCERPT: In 2021, commentators said the CPAC stage was shaped like a famous Nazi design called the Othala Rune, which is a hate symbol. Schlapp denied this claim and said that CPAC supports the Jewish community, but various commentators took note of the uncanny resemblance.
This year, CPAC refused to give press credentials to various media outlets, including The Washington Post, despite the organization’s emphasis on free speech.
Some speakers, including Trump, have been known to regularly voice support for white nationalism and right-wing extremism, including speakers who promote the false idea that there is a plot to replace the white population. I discuss this idea in my 2021 book, “It Can Happen Here: White Power and the Rising Threat of Genocide in the US.”
Indeed, the U.S.-Mexico border was a constant topic at this year’s CPAC, which included controversial anti-immigrant speakers such as the head of Spain’s far-right Vox party and a representative of Hungary, whose leader stated at the 2022 CPAC that Europeans should not become “mixed-race.” Hungary will also host a CPAC meeting in April 2024.
Many of the sessions have alarming titles like, “Burning Down the House,” “Does Government Even Matter” and “Going Full Hungarian.” There are right-wing, populist speakers like Bannon and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Overall, the program is informed by a conservative logic that largely boils down to God, family, tradition, law and order, defense and freedom.
Of these, God looms largest. As a result, CPAC’s hardcore conservative Christian orientation is anti-abortion rights, homophobic and oriented toward traditional family structure and what it considers morality.
Schlapp co-wrote a book in 2022 that warns of the dangers of “evil forces” – what he considers to be progressives, the radical left and American Marxists. Schlapp’s book title even dubs these forces “the desecrators.” Such inflammatory language is frequently used at CPAC, including by Trump during his Saturday speech.
CPAC’s love of Trump is shocking to many on the left. But at CPAC, Trump is viewed as America’s savior.
According to his base, Trump delivered on abortion by appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. They believe that, despite evidence of mixed results, Trump had wide successes at securing the border and creating jobs. For example, during Trump’s time as president, the U.S. economy lost nearly 3 million jobs, and apprehensions of undocumented migrants at the border rose.
Trump’s CPAC speech, like his campaign speeches, harped on such supposed achievements – as well as Biden’s alleged “destruction” of the country.
Conservatives roll their eyes at liberal fears of Trump the despot. Like all of us, they acknowledge, Trump has flaws. They say that some of his comments about women and minorities are cringeworthy, but not evidence of an underlying misogyny and hatefulness, as many critics contend.
Ultimately, CPAC conservatives believe Trump is their best bet to defeat the radical-left “desecrators” who seek to thwart him at every turn – including, as they constantly complained at CPAC, social media bans, “fake news” takedowns, rigged voting, bogus lawsuits, unfair justice, and lies about what they call the Jan. 6, 2021, “protest”.
Despite these hurdles, Trump battles on toward the Republican nomination for presidential candidate – the hero who CPAC conservatives view as the last and best hope to save the USA.
TITLE: Trump Promises Christian Nationalists ‘[Political] Power At A Level That You’ve Never Used It Before’
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/trump-promises-christian-nationalists-political-power-at-a-level-that-youve-never-used-it-before/
EXCERPT: Former president Donald Trump delivered a campaign speech at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Tennessee on Thursday, promising the right-wing Christian audience that they will wield political power “at a level that you’ve never used it before” if he is returned to the White House in 2024.
Trump’s audience and the larger convention were populated by the same religious-right activists who are regularly featured here on Right Wing Watch and who are planning to use a second Trump term to impose their Christian nationalist worldview on the nation. And based on Trump’s remarks at the conference, he fully intends to give them more political power than they have ever had before.
“Today I come before you as a friend and an ally and a fellow believer to ask for your help and your support and your prayers for this country,” Trump said. “I make you a simple promise: In my first term I fought for Christians harder than any president has ever done before, and I will fight even harder for Christians with four more years in the White House.”
“We did things the likes of which nobody has ever done for Christians in this country, and I’m very proud of that and honored by it,” he added. “Just think of what with God’s help we already achieved in our historic first term under my leadership and working with you.”
“For four years, we went through a great period [where] you were able to speak, and we’re going to make that on a permanent basis,” Trump continued. “Because you’re the people we want to hear from: the pastors and the ministers and the rabbis. The people in this room are the people we want to hear from and they have to have a political voice.”
“You have such power, but you really weren’t allowed to use that power,” Trump told the audience. “You’re now allowed to use it. If I get in [to the White House], you’re going to be using that power at a level that you’ve never used it before.”