After five weeks immersed in a routine that took turns playing golf for countless hours in front of the television, Donald Trump decided to resume his political activities, in a scenario paved with revenge and conspiracy theories. Before making the decision to be a candidate in 2024, the former president must show that he will remain at the head of the Republican Party and the far right of the United States.
The staging will be Cpac, the acronym for Conservative Political Action Conference, where Trump will deliver this Sunday (28) the closing speech of the largest annual event of the American right.
Ten years ago, the Republican first spoke at CPAC, and now, in his first public address since Jan.6, when his supporters promoted a violent invasion of Capitol Hill, he intends to use the space to renew his false account of electoral fraud and attacks. whom you see as the enemy.
The most controversial leader in US history wants to show his strength in front of the captive audience, crystallizing the idea that, even banned from Twitter and outside the Oval Office, he still controls much of the Republican base.
The ex-president’s strategy is to observe – and boost – the performance of allies in parliamentary elections and for state governments next year, in order to gauge the power of Trumpism and make a more precise calculation of his own candidacy for the White House.
But, before that, he intends to foment his constituents and give them arguments so that they continue to preach his radicalized ideologies and his false theses on the victory of Joe Biden.
In front of the Cpac audience, Trump must wear his usual aggressive costume and resort to the theme that brought him to power in 2016, positioning himself as the leader who will fight the political establishment in Washington.
The offensive, say the allies, is to target the opposition both outside and inside the Republican Party.
The former president addresses Congressmen and Republican senators who voted for his impeachment this year in Congress – many of them have already been punished in retaliation for the acronym in the states, but Trump will continue to measure his strength, just like his style.
In January, the House approved Trump’s second indictment, when ten Republicans voted against the former president. In February, he was acquitted by the Senate on charges of inciting a violent invasion of Congress, but seven supporters called for his sentencing.
Trump clashed publicly with party leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, who voted for his acquittal and, after the verdict, justified his position by saying the former president was responsible for the invasion of Capitol Hill, but saw no constitutional support for his impediment. from the office.
Despite being absolved, Trump promises revenge. From this week, he will begin a series of meetings to outline his next political movements and make a selection of candidates aligned with his ideology and ready to attack those who want them further away from the acronym.
According to Politico, last week the former president already hosted his former campaign leader Brad Parscale to discuss funding proposals online and how to use social media despite his ban on Facebook and Twitter – until then its main channel for dialogue with voters.
Additionally, he had conversations with his eldest son Donald Jr., considered one of his political heirs, and with House Minority Leader MP Steve Scalise.
Now, the idea is to create a formal timeline for candidates who want Trump’s support to be received by the former president and sacrament his commitment to Trumpism. He has already expressed support for two of his staunchest allies, Arizona Republican Party Chairman Kelli Ward, who is expected to run for state government, and the former White House press secretary. Sarah Sanders, who has already announced she will run for office. the Arkansas government in 2022.
These and other names will receive money from some sort of Trump campaign fund, which has millions of dollars in cash and a bank with data of millions of Americans – Trump had 74 million votes in the election last year, more than 10 million more than it had in the 2016 litigation.
Many of these voters will be in the audience at the close of the Cpac. Trump must argue that many of his predictions about the Biden administration have already come true and anchor the thesis that anyone who attacks him attacks the Republican base, fueling the hatred of his supporters.
Even though he has yet to decide whether or not to run in 2024, Trump wants to remain the main Republican benchmark and prevent another name in the acronym from gaining political traction in the years to come.
Created in 1973, the Cpac was a larger umbrella for the American right, but it radicalized towards Trumpism, just like the Republican Party. Even though there are moderate-profile Republicans tired of Trump’s aggression and lies, polls show most voters for the acronym still rely on the former’s image and speech. president – and most lawmakers don’t want to risk losing that share the day before. legislative elections next year.
Republicans control the executive and legislature in 24 of the 50 U.S. states, and some analysts are already predicting the legend could take back the House majority in 2022 – now in the hands of Democrats by a small margin, 221 to 211 deputies.
Trump knows he doesn’t need the party establishment to run for president in 2024 – he won the 2016 primaries against the will of the Republican leaders – but he needs to give Trumpism some capillarity and keep it going. base under his influence until then.
The unpredictable Trump may not even run for the White House again, but keeping the possibility – or the threat – of his candidacy alive is a guarantee that, at least for now, he will be where he wants to be. more: in the spotlight.