The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2017 is kicking off Wednesday in our nation’s capital — and insiders say this year’s conference will signal the beginning of a brand new Republican Party.
Political experts around the country have noted that the largest annual gathering of conservative voters, lawmakers, and organizations will be a proud display of President Donald Trump’s vision of “American first” — a sharp contrast to the neo-conservative, pro-globalism leaders that guided the party for the past few decades.
Could this signal the beginning of a conservative civil war for the soul of the Republican Party?
The gathering comes with a good share controversy. Ahead of the 2017 conference, alt-right figurehead Milo Yiannopoulos was uninvited after making controversial comments regarding pedophilia.
In many ways, the conflict between Milo and CPAC represents the conservative movement’s struggle with powerful and conflicting forces in the early days of Trump’s presidency.
The 33-year-old British professional provocateur is among the new players in Trump’s Republican Party.
“America is crying out for somebody who will say the unsayable,” Milo declared. He added, “The populist, nationalist revolution that is happening, the anti-political correctness pro-free speech revolution that is happening all over the Western world, is not going anywhere.”
Not long ago, the conference showcased the Republican Party’s rigid devotion to neo-conservative ideology. Yet in the age of unfiltered Trump, CPAC may be outflanked by the likes of Milo and the president’s chief counselor, Steve Bannon, whose confrontational brand of Republican politics is in conflict to past leaders like former President George W. Bush.
“I think the conservative movement is hopeful, but wary,” said Tim Phillips, president of Koch-brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity.
Conference organizers have coordinated a program specifically designed to distance the conservative movement from any racists and bigots who attempted to take over the GOP in recent years, all the while cheering Trump’s vows to build a wall and expel millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.
“There is nothing about their views or their ideology that is consistent with conservatism,” said Dan Schneider, executive director of the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC. He dismissed the white nationalists as “nothing more than garden variety” fascists.
Milo was removed from the conference speaking program earlier in the week following mainstream media outrage over one of his many video clips. In the video, critics say, Milo appeared to defend sexual relationships between men and young boys. He has since left his job as an editor on Breitbart News, and lost a book deal with Simon and Schuster.
In one of the videos, Milo, who is gay, said relationships between boys and men could “help those young boys discover who they are and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable sort of rock, where they can’t speak to their parents.”
To his credit, Milo has attempted to clarify his remarks in a social media post.
“I understand that my usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humor might have come across as flippancy, a lack of care for other victims or, worse, advocacy. I am horrified by that impression,” he said.
Despite this week’s focus on Milo, the debate over the future of the conservative movement extends well beyond one besieged activist. Trump himself is hardly regarded as a traditional conservative.
“When Donald Trump walks out on stage at CPAC this week, he will be addressing a crowd that largely supported someone else in the Republican primaries,” said longtime evangelical leader Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, suggesting that both sides need each other going forward.
Yet some worry that Trump has abandoned long-held conservative bedrock issues, such as free trade and small government. The president and Republicans in Congress have also been slow to repeal the federal health care law as promised.
“It’s time to get moving,” Phillips said.
The Horn News is at CPAC all this week. Be sure to stay with us for all the latest speeches, conferences, and conservative activism happening in Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1973 by the American Conservative Union, CPAC brings together approximately 10,000 concerned Americans every year and is widely attended by high profile conservative voices. As Ronald Reagan said in 1985, “CPAC is the opportunity to dance with the one who brung ya.”
— The Horn editorial team and The Associated Press contributed to this article