Brief Recap of CPAC 2023

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore

CPAC stands for Conservative Political Action Conference and is organised by the American Conservative Union annually. Conservative activists, politicians, and officials alike are the usual attendants. This year’s conference occurred last week near Washington D.C. The conference often consists of a plethora of speakers promoting conservative ideology, including various entertainers and businessmen. 

Nowadays, the conference is a way for the media to measure the state of conservative politics in the US and a hotbed of controversy. For instance, Ann Coulter called John Edwards a slur in 2007 and this year was no different with the invitation of Milo Yiannopoulos, infamous far-right internet commentator, known amongst other things for creating the “Yiannopolous Privilege Grant” for white men only. 

Donald Trump’s presence took centre stage at this year’s conference. Before his keynote speech, he was introduced to the audience as “the next president for the United States”. His loyal fanbase of MAGA t-shirt-wearing republicans greeted him loudly when he took the stage. He confirmed that he would stand in the 2024 race (despite ongoing investigations over the 2020 election) and criticised the so-called “republicans in name only”, also known as RINOs. 

Nevertheless, this year’s CPAC seemed diminished from previous years. Trump’s speech was delivered to a hall with empty seats, and notable officials such as Mitch McConnell and Ron DeSantis were missing. Fox News even took a back seat when covering the event, signalling perhaps the outdated nature of Trump’s support. 

Far-right representative Marjorie Taylor Greene called for US aid for Ukraine to cease, arguing it has little benefit to the American people. This adds to a growing grassroots movement within US conservatism which threatens support for US funding of Ukraine’s war effort. 

Transphobic rhetoric was also clear throughout the conference. Trump promised to ban transgender medical treatment for young people, and plans were announced to introduce a bill which would criminalise doctors for giving gender-affirming care to minors.