Donald told us Saturday morning that he was going to CPAC.
He stood in adulation to a rabid crowd that had been entertained by Elon Musk the day before with a chainsaw, and the soon to be impeached Argentinian President Javier Milei.
The audience included Jan.6th criminals, including Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, who had been arrested for assault the day before at the Capitol. He's probably going to say that his pardon applied to that, too.
Also there was Mike Lindell. Haven't heard from Mike since he lost that $5 million to the guy who proved his election data was bogus. There's also the Smartmatic and Dominion voting machine lawsuits against him. Caught in a hallway, he still said, "I'm going to get rid of the machines. How many times have you heard me say that?" Way too many, Mike. He also said that he spent two and a half hours with Trump at the White House last week talking about voting machines and how he wanted to return the whole country to paper ballots. Two and a half hours about that? It took Trump that long to understand machines versus paper?
"Mr. Trump drew the loudest applause during that address when he pledged to purge Republicans who had criticized him or refused to support his lies that the 2020 election had been stolen from him."
Really? Not attacking Democrats, but Republicans? Democrats might want to ask for equal time. I guess MAGA now calls those Republicans traitors, where Democrats were already classed as such.
Stewart Rhodes, from the Oath Keepers, was also there. "I just hope he goes full-bore --- within constitutional bounds. I hope he goes all the way."
Trump sort of did. He said, "I ended Joe Biden's weaponization as soon as I got in. I said, 'I'm going to hit him with the same stuff.'"
Trump spent 75 minutes talking about himself. He still pumps his fists and sways to Village People's song "YMCA," still clueless that it's a gay theme song.
It's still all about revenge to Trump. He said that his revenge would be being successful, before the election. That sure doesn't seem to be the case now. He's going after everyone who doesn't have Secret Service protection, and removing it from those that he can.
He used the tried and true demonizing of Democrats who "cheated like hell," only to find his victory was "too big to rig." He's living in a world all of his own, but he's dragging way too many people with him into it.
It was his greatest hits of boasts. Starting with the January 6th pardons, followed with killing DEI programs, denying the identity of trans people, yanking the U.S. out of the Paris Climate agreement, and sending immigrants to Guantanamo Bay. Lastly he pumped up Elon Musk's efforts to destroy the government. Along the way the audience cheered at each boast.
Let's go through his other boasts and lies in sequence. He actually started with the Governor of Maine who told him at the White House that she would see him in court for his actions. The crowd booed when he mentioned her.
"She's fighting to keep men and women sports. You ever see what happens to a woman, when a woman boxes a transgender women? Did you ever see what happens? It's not pretty." First off, there have never been any trans, male to female, boxers. There is a trans boxer named Patricio Manuel. But he transitioned from woman to male. Governor Mills responded to Trump saying that she would follow state and federal law. Trump's sniped, "We are the federal law. You'd better do it because you're not going to get federal funding." What an ignoramus.
He followed that up with saying that the Republicans were going to do great in the 2026 midterms. He's living in a totally different reality than the rest of the world. People are already fighting back against his insanity and complaining.
Trump didn't let Joe Biden get away scott free. In one of his most ironic comments, he said that everything Joe Biden touched "turned to sh*t." I wish Trump's mother was still around to wash his mouth out with soap. Just using this type of language should have been disqualifying a decade ago. And people got so tied up in knots when Joe Biden said to Barack Obama, thinking he was off mic, that the Affordable Care Act was a "big f*cking deal." Do what you want in private, but in public use language your children could hear.
Trump made known his plans that he wants to visit Fort Knox with Elon Musk to inspect the nation's gold reserves. He could just watch the movie "Goldfinger" and be done with it. Just what is the purpose to this? Do they want to turn it into a cryptocurrency?
Trump still wants to blackmail Ukraine for their mineral deposits and oil. He says they owe it to us. Zelensky already told Trump no earlier in the week, but Trump's not giving up. I can understand the mineral deposits, but we don't need their oil. He didn't place the blame this time about who started the war, he just said it would never have happened if he was president at the time. Of course.
There was a sideshow at the Principles First summit. This is an alternative to CPAC for Republicans dismayed at the current state of the party. Enrique Tarrio and a group with him tried to enter, but was turned away because the event was already at full capacity, according to former Capitol Hill officer Harry Dunn, who was the press liason for the event. Dunn has called the Jan.6th pardons a "slap in the face." He might have stronger language in private.
A video follows Tarrio going through the venue's hallways with a lady who keeps turning around and calling Tarrio an asshole and telling him to back off. Tarrio doesn't. Then at the elevators, we see retired officer Michael Fanone, and he and Tarrio get into a shouting match. Tarrio doesn't stop until Fanone is in the elevator and the doors close. Tarrio should be in jail for 22 years. This is not justice. Maybe he'll accidentally off himself playing with guns.
Here's the Principles First website. There also a page for the Principles First 2025 summit. Speakers were: Mark Cuban, Chris Christie, John Bolton, George Conway, J. Michael Luttig, Adam Kinzinger, Michael Steele, Frank Figliuzzi, Glenn Kirschner, and more, and the Fantastic Four: Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn, Aquilino Gonell, and Daniel Hodges. I'm sorry I couldn't go. Helluva cast.
There is one more subject that really bothered Trump. After touting the crowd size, once again he went after the cable network that won't bow down to him.
"I watch this MSNBC --- which is a threat to democracy, actually --- they're stone cold mean. But they're stuttering. They're all screwed up. They're all mentally screwed up. They don't know what --- their ratings have gone down the tubes. This Rachel Maddow, what does she have? She's got nothing. Nothing. She took a sabbatical where she worked one day all week. They pay her a lot of money. She gets no ratings. I should go against her in the ratings because, I'll tell you, she gets no ratings. All she does is talk about Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. But these people are really, I mean they lie. They shouldn't be allowed to lie every night. They're really a vehicle of the Democrat Party."
So, Donald watches MSNBC and really hates Rachel Maddow. I'm sure the feeling is mutual.
After CPAC, there are various posts on the many X accounts Trump uses now, but he had to retweet one to Truth Social to lie about his goals.
As usual, he makes little sense. If the country is already liberated, why would we need to be doing it now?
"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue." Barry Goldwater didn't actually say this, but we have to work on it every day of the second Trump era.