00:00Talk a bit about the degree to which this conflict was reverberating around the halls of that Gaylord Hotel in
00:05Texas.
00:06How much was it front of mind for those who were participating there?
00:09I think it sort of overshadowed a large part of the conference, honestly.
00:13As we've talked about earlier, the support for President Trump is still extremely high.
00:19But the fact that the president went back on a promise with this war, the fact that the war has
00:25gone on for several weeks now,
00:27and the fact that fuel prices are up with no particular sight or end in sight,
00:33are all things that are concerning to people at CPAC.
00:36Even if they continue to say they support the president, they support the war, they're just question marks about it.
00:43And the question marks are both about those promises that I just mentioned
00:47and about the impact that it's going to have politically going into the November elections.
00:53And Jeff, President Trump didn't speak at CPAC this year.
00:56Is that significant?
00:57Why did they make that choice?
00:59And did attendees notice?
01:00Did they care?
01:02Well, I don't think that was a choice by CPAC organizers.
01:06I think they would have been delighted to have President Trump come.
01:08And there was even a little bit of rumor milling while I was there that they were still trying to
01:14get a big-name speaker
01:15like Vice President Vance or Secretary of State Rubio to come.
01:19I'm sure they would have been delighted if the president had come.
01:22All of that said, there's a lot of forgiveness for President Trump in that room,
01:27and that would apply to both a lack of attendance as well as breaking some promises that he made as
01:33a candidate.
01:34Jeff, you've covered a number of these over the years,
01:36and I'm curious sort of how much energy and enthusiasm there was at this one compared to one's past.
01:41They used to be in Washington, D.C.
01:43Then they were in Maryland, a little ways away from the Capitol.
01:46Now we have it taking place in Texas.
01:48Does it retain the level of energy and enthusiasm among participants that it had in the past?
01:53You know, there was plenty of energy there.
01:55I mean, it's interesting in terms of people watching.
01:59You go and people are wearing red MAGA hats or black MAGA hats.
02:04I spoke to one woman who was dressed up in a Statue of Liberty costume,
02:08all of whom were very happy to talk about their love of the president and their hate of communism and
02:14socialism
02:14and the other buzzwords that CPAC very successfully has associated with the left.
02:20You know, it is, you're right, it was in Dallas as opposed to in the D.C. area.
02:25But there's a lot of conservative energy in Dallas, for sure, and people from all over the country who came.
02:33So, yeah, I didn't notice a dip in energy.
02:35I just certainly noticed at least some concern, and that would include at the very top of the organizer level.
02:43I spoke to Matt Schlapp, concerned about the impact of this war on the elections.
02:49And when I spoke to Matt, he discussed the fact that this is an interesting and tricky political time
02:55and the impact on Republicans and the impact on the MAGA faithful when it comes to those elections,
03:02which, as you all know, I love to talk about, is looming.
03:06So they're thinking about that, but they're also, again, using,
03:12they use their time in Dallas to talk about the things that they care about,
03:17both in the U.S. and globally, in terms of the conservative movement.
03:20Jeff, we've just got about a minute or so left,
03:22but I do want to let you talk a little bit about those midterm elections that you hold so near
03:26and dear to your heart.
03:27Politics, baby. I love it. Let's do it.
03:30Better you than me, buddy.
03:32All right, so CPAC is the diehards, of course.
03:34These are, like, the most loyal people to the president.
03:36And as you said, they're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
03:39But as you talk to Republicans at large, maybe outside of that bubble just slightly,
03:44are they getting concerned about things like oil prices, about how long this conflict in Iran is going,
03:50especially as we are coming up on those midterms? There's always another election around the corner.
03:53But this one, the president keeps saying, you know, oil prices are a blip.
03:56It's going to wind down. It's going to resolve.
03:58It doesn't seem to be going as quickly as he would like.
04:01I think that's right.
04:02And, you know, it's easy for a political reporter to talk about the next election.
04:06But this next election is so critical for President Trump.
04:09It will have so many implications for the second half of his second term in terms of legislation,
04:17in terms of policy priorities, in terms of the potential investigations that Democrats would launch
04:22if Democrats take over the House and potentially the Senate.
04:25I think the risks that you just highlighted, Christina, are spot on.
04:30I think that those risks are present both within the Democratic and Independent base,
04:34but also among the MAGA folks who he will need to go out and vote as well.
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