DON GONYEA, HOST:
CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, has been an annual event that also serves as a temperature check on the direction of the Republican Party. Since President Trump barreled onto the scene a decade ago, that direction has increasingly been his own.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Seventy percent of Americans believe that what we are doing is right, and we are keeping our promises.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: That's all we're doing, when you think, is keeping our promises. That's all we had to do. And their promises weren't worthwhile to go and vote for.
GONYEA: NPR's Stephen Fowler has been covering this year's CPAC, joins me in the studio now. Hi, Stephen.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey, Don.
GONYEA: I remember one of the first CPACs I covered. It was back during the George W. Bush administration. There were no chainsaws there, for one. This is your first one. What's your takeaway from the event?
FOWLER: Honestly, it's unlike anything else in politics. I mean, there were multiple cardboard cutouts of Trump and the MyPillow founder Mike Lindell that people were lining up to take selfies with. There was merchandise simultaneously calling the January 6, 2021, insurrection a fed-surrection (ph), implying that it was a setup, and also celebrating people as political prisoners. And it felt like every third person that was attending was somebody who was either present at, supportive of or pardoned for their actions on January 6.
Even though this wasn't a Trump campaign event, the closest parallel I can think of is an all-day Trump rally, with its energy and mishmash of speakers, but just spread out and magnified over three days. There was, of course, billionaire Trump adviser and overseer of the DOGE movement to shrink the government, Elon Musk. He did receive that golden chainsaw from the president of Argentina before declaring, quote, "I am become meme" to great applause.
GONYEA: Also at CPACs of yore, some of the biggest names who got enthusiastic responses when I was there included people like Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney, Chris Christie. I take it they're not present and accounted for now.
FOWLER: Not exactly. Not at all, not even Ron or Rand Paul. Everything is under the umbrella of Trumpism, all the way down. There were panels about January 6. Several Cabinet secretaries were there sharing how their agency or department plans to implement Trump's agenda. And a lot of nods to that DOGE effort and a notion pushed by Musk that they'll save so much money, they can return some of it to taxpayers.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ELON MUSK: It's money that's taken away from things that are destructive to the country that - and from organizations that hate you.
GONYEA: So DOGE checks, I guess - we'll keep an eye out for those. But there is a long list of things Trump has done in his first 30 days back in the White House. How did those play with this crowd?
FOWLER: So many of the speakers and attendees I spoke with say, Trump has already won. He's already done everything he's promised on the campaign trail, like ending wokeness or his push for mass deportations.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: The illegal alien criminals are being sent home. We're draining the swamp, and we're restoring government by the people, for the people.
FOWLER: I mean, CPAC, Don, is basically the opening turn on the Trump 2.0 victory lap. Unlike his first 30 days, there wasn't a whole lot of newsmaking going on, but it was like a callback to his greatest hits on the trail.
GONYEA: And what does the CPAC of today say about where the zeitgeist is?
FOWLER: Well, over the last decade of Trump, the tent of conservatism has taken on some interesting shapes. It's a little bit smaller but also deeper and definitely Trump-shaped.
GONYEA: That's NPR's Stephen Fowler, fresh from this year's CPAC conference just outside Washington. Thanks.
FOWLER: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
