ORLANDO, Fla.—The first two days of the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference served as a field test for 2024 presidential candidates, with rumored hopefuls like Ron DeSantis, Kristi Noem, and Mike Pompeo each pitching their own vision for America—to an audience that seemingly only wanted to live in Trump’s.
Trump’s presence loomed large throughout the confab even before he was scheduled to deliver Saturday evening’s keynote address. Throughout the conference’s main hall, exhibitors prominently displayed Trump’s likeness to sell their products, including a large golden statue of the former president hawking Patriot Mobile, “America’s only Christian conservative wireless provider,” along with the usual assortment of MAGA wares including hand-stitched hammocks embroidered with Trump’s name and “45.”
Still, that didn’t stop his presumed understudies from trying to use their roughly 20-minute slots as their auditions for the MAGA mantle.
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Florida Gov. DeSantis spoke at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, an unusual midday slot for a figure widely regarded as the presumptive frontrunner if Trump chooses not to run. His speech centered on his vision to replicate Florida at the national level, touting his policies on COVID-19 and education as a model to fight a “scientific and technological elite.”
“If Florida had not led the way, this country could look like Canada or Australia,” DeSantis said to rapturous applause from a mostly full crowd. “The left does not want to honor our freedoms, and we have a responsibility to fight back on all fronts. People are coming to Florida because they want freedom.”
A golden Donald Trump to…sell a cell phone service. pic.twitter.com/ZCIZbjJoir
— Corbin Bolies (@CorbinBolies) February 25, 2022
DeSantis, who has only announced a campaign for reelection so far, trained his rhetorical fire at not one of Florida’s three Democratic gubernatorial candidates but President Joe Biden himself. According to the governor, Biden hates the Sunshine State, citing the president’s move to halt FDA approval for two monoclonal antibody treatments, which DeSantis touted heavily in Florida despite it being proven ineffective against the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
“He does things like take our medication. He sniffs for victims of relief just because he doesn't like the governor,” DeSantis said. “He doesn't like Florida and he doesn't like me because we stand up to him.”
Notably absent from DeSantis’ speech was any mention of Donald Trump, whose likeness was featured on many attendees’ apparel and on trinkets outside in the exhibit hall.
Trump’s former CIA director and secretary of state Pompeo, meanwhile, presented his outlook on Friday morning, joking about his weight loss before diving into a pitch that leaned heavily on right-wing culture-war tropes, including some not-so-thinly veiled transphobia.
“We’ve seen governors that don’t wear masks but requiring 3-year-olds to do so. We've seen a man break swimming records in girls’ swimming races,” Pompeo said. “We've seen a Russian dictator now terrorize the Ukrainian people because America didn't demonstrate the resolve that we did in the four years prior.”
Pompeo framed his experience as Trump’s final secretary of state as credentials, referring to his tenure as a model for what American leadership should look like. He cited his former boss solely to refer to the Trump administration’s dealings with North Korea—referring to dictator Kim Jong Un in a colloquial “Chairman Kim”—and China, reminiscing on how much he missed serving, and declaring that he and his wife “are going to stay in this fight.”
“I’ve traveled from Tennessee to California—yes, even California,” he said to applause. “I’ve traveled all across the country to meet candidates who’ve decided to give themselves back to their communities,” he said—something a potential candidate themselves might say.
South Dakota Gov. Noem seemed to do the same on Friday afternoon, using her slot to reiterate her own Twitter missives against Biden’s handling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rail against “cancel culture,” and call upon conservatives to fight back against the usual set of enemies: “The Democrat Party and their allies in big tech, Hollywood, and the media.”.
“The American people are being coerced,” she declared, later adding: “The question is, how much pain are you willing to go through to be free?”
Unlike Pompeo and DeSantis, Noem mentioned Trump more than a few times: Once to tout the misleading, conservative media-generated claim that Hillary Clinton “spied” on his campaign; and again to assure the audience “we have some great fighters, like President Donald Trump. But he’s not alone.”
It’s unclear whether any potential candidate can break through Trump’s grip on the party base regardless of their messaging. William Riggle, a 76-year-old rancher from Volusia County, Florida, drove in solely for CPAC’s first day to see DeSantis, whom he said he’s supported since the governor’s congressional days. However, he wasn’t sure he could bear a potential battle between Trump and the Florida governor in 2024.
“Donald Trump has done so much for this country and he's sacrificed so much,” Riggle said. “We are blessed to have him. If you’re asking me is a toss-up between the two, I really don't have an answer for that.”
