Former US President Donald Trump has left the door open to running for office again in 2024, telling his followers: “Who knows, who knows, I may even decide to beat them for a third time.”
Mr Trump closed out a high-energy CPAC event on Sunday with a blistering speech, where he also took the opportunity to bash the new administration. He said: “We all knew that the Biden administration was going to be bad, but none of us even imagined just how bad they would be and how far left they would go.”
Trump began his address by paying tribute to the late Rush Limbaugh. The highly anticipated speech also saw him readdress his allegations of voter fraud. These claims have stirred up animosity from both sides, with the Democrats maintaining that there was no interference.
Although Mr Trump was the highlight of the weekend, there were also a number of speeches given by other presidential hopefuls. Matt Gaetz, Ron DeSantis, Kristi Noem, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Josh Hawley and Marsha Blackburn were just a few of the high-profile figures who attended the event. These individauls took the time to address an array of subjects, ranging from ‘cancel culture’ to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Straw polls are conducted at every CPAC event. These polls ask attendees a number of questions on a range of subjects. However, yesterday’s standout poll was a question about the 2024 Presidential Election. Of those surveyed, 55% picked Donald Trump as their favorite candidate. Ron DeSantis was in second place, with 21% of the vote. He was then followed by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, and Donald Trump Jr.
The son of the former President chose to take aim at big tech and the media during his time at the podium. He succeeded in rallying the crowd against the ‘swamp’. One of his targets was Liz Cheney, who had voted to impeach Trump in the wake of the Capitol riot. The daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney came under fire for breaking with party lines, when she voted to hold Trump responsible for the incidents of January 6th.
Opinion polling from the event puts Mr Trump’s approval rating at 97% amongst attendees. This will be a blow to the Democrats, who were hoping that a GOP breakdown could benefit them in the 2022 mid-term elections. However, if the straw polling is anywhere near accurate, this does not appear to be the case.
Mr Trump’s full speech can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsrxCWJXo4Y
