Over three days, attendees heard from a large number of conservative speakers; Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, Marjorie Taylor Greene and more. One speaker caused more controversy than others, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Orban spoke on the first day of CPAC and outside was a small group of protesters. I spoke with them about why they chose to protest.
To be honest, before CPAC I had never heard of Viktor Orban; therefore, could not ask educated questions. Nonetheless, it was a very intriguing interview, and I enjoyed hearing what the protesters had to say. Besides Orban, we heard from Greg Abbott, Ben Carson, Sarah Palin and more.
On the second day of CPAC, I spoke with more people. One of them being Larry Elder who was a conservative radio host, and in 2021 ran for Governor California in the recall against Gavin Newsom. In the interview, he discussed his run for Governor and even hinted at a possible 2024 run for President.
After speaking with Larry Elder, I spoke with David Harris Jr. who has his own news website and wrote the book “Why I Couldn’t Stay Silent”. I spoke with him about his experience and how he has grown a following in recent years.
Brandon Straka was a hair stylist and Democrat from New York. He later became a Republican and started the #WalkAway social media campaign in 2018. Since then he has grown a following and #WalkAway has gained momentum. On January sixth in 2021 Straka was in DC for President Trumps speech at the Eclipse. Afterwards, he went to the Capitol, where he expected to speak at a small stage set up there. As he walked to the Capitol, he heard from others about what was happening. He went to the Capitol to see what was happening and recorded video. He didn’t go inside, but was later arrested for the events of that day. I spoke with him about his experience and what he thinks about January sixth.
To wrap up CPAC, former President Trump was the last speaker. He spoke almost two hours and as usual the crowd loved it. Before his speech though he held his first press conference in six months. I was fortunate enough to be one of the few invited and was able to get in a question as well. Be sure to watch to hear him discuss the Hispanic vote, Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan, and a 2024 run for President.
As always, I enjoyed CPAC and being able to listen and speak with both speakers and attendees. We heard from some Republican nominees this weekend such as Kari Lake who is running for Governor in Arizona, Tudor Dixon who is running in the Michigan Gubernatorial race and so many more. As we go into the mid terms it will be interesting to see hos much momentum Republicans have gained.