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Trump, CPAC, and The Elephant In The Room
Trump and his CPAC speech will allow a return to the headlines. Just step back for a moment and let’s ask the questions that matter
“Hello CPAC. Do you miss me yet? Do you miss me?”
So went the opening of the hour and half speech former President Trump gave in Orlando to a crowd who had waited that long past the scheduled time to welcome the main event for CPAC 2021. “We went through a journey like nobody else, there’s never been a journey like it, there’s never been a journey so successful, we began it together four years ago and it is far from being over.”
Which is true. Trump as the dominating force of the Republican Party is far from over. The 45th president will be the overbearing force in the Republican party for the next few years, and as he has been the last four will be the singularity pulling all the political and media light towards him, bending it, and refusing to let any of it escape. The Donald J. Trump of CPAC2021 and of the hard-sold DonaldJTrump.com was clearly the same one we saw for four years as president.
Trump ran through his greatest hits — since he only really ever gives one kind of speech right down to ending with “YMCA” — touching on the wall, on his accomplishments as presidents, on…