All attending CPAC 2023, in National Harbor, Maryland - this past weekend - took home the same big message: The Republican Party is dominated by former-President Donald J. Trump.
In attendance at CPAC were thousands of Republican activists, students, and voters.
They convened for three-days - just outside Washington, D.C.
Mr. Trump knows that they are the backbone of the Republican party, not the donor class.
Instead of asking for donations from a small group of billionaires, he spent his weekend speaking directly to the voters who will decide the Republican primary.
They are behind him.
No speaker drew a bigger crowd or more applause and excitement from rally-goers than our nation's 45th commander in chief.
At the end of the conference, he won a commanding 62% in the CPAC straw poll, more than triple the share of second-place finisher Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla.
Even Politico.com admitted that "No Republican departed CPAC with more glory than former President Trump."
Donald J. Trump won his first primary as an outsider, and in 2024, the Republican establishment and their largest donors will again oppose his candidacy.
But, this time, they’ll have to take on the 45th president’s incredibly successful record too.
As he said in his keynote address, "In 2016, I declared, 'I am your voice.' Today I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution."
Politicians lie and make empty promises, but Donald Trump isn’t a politician and Republican voters don’t have to take him at his word.
They know that Trump will fight for them by securing the border, taking on China and the deep state and restoring our energy independence, because he already has.
As president, Trump transformed the Republican Party, and in his words, "We are never going back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove and Jeb Bush."
Every other CPAC speaker, including his primary challengers, proved his point.
The issues they focused on — China, wokeness, the border crisis, election integrity — were ignored for decades by the establishment before they were finally tackled by the Trump administration.
It’s worth applauding candidates like former South Carolina governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and former Kansas congressman, CIA director, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for having the courage to show up and compete.
Standing in the shadow of President Trump isn’t easy.
However, the "Trump shine" they enjoyed while serving under him is quickly wearing off as they embrace Never Trump rhetoric and articulate a dangerous and tired pro-war vision.
By contrast, former-President Trump is the sole person who is calling for peace in Ukraine and able to deliver it.
His record of peace is that of the only modern president to not enter the U.S. into any new wars. He isn’t simply promising to recreate his past successes. He's promising to "finish what we started" and "see this battle through to ultimate victory."
President Trump is the only candidate with a bold and original plan that appeals directly to all Americans, just like he did in 2016.
He isn’t just going to make the border secure like it was in 2020 — he’ll "use all necessary state, local, federal and military resources to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history."
And he isn’t going to settle for just a full economic rebound from the COVID pandemic, he is going to provide a "quantum leap in the standard of living."
He’s announced a plan to revitalize American industry by cutting off imports from China and establishing universal baseline tariffs. President Trump told CPAC he's tired of a country that "doesn’t build anymore."
So, he wants to build ten brand new American cities and they will be populated by the baby boom created by new baby bonuses.
No American politician has spoken of such big ideas in such bold terms since we put a man on the moon. Only Trump has, because his confidence in our nation and the greatness of the American people is unrivaled.
Republican voters believe in President Trump because he believes in them.
That’s why they supported him in the CPAC straw poll by such a massive margin, and it’s why, just a week before, he was greeted by a massive cheering crowd in East Palestine, Ohio.
To them he declared, "You are not forgotten."
He meant it.
After 2024, we will all have our patriotic warrior back in the White House, serving us once more as our genuine leader.
Taylor Budowich is the CEO of Make America Great Again Inc., the primary Super PAC supporting President Trump’s 2024 candidacy. Taylor is a former spokesman for President Trump.
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