OXON HILL, Md. — Former President Donald Trump regaled his faithful Saturday night in suburban Washington with promises of 'retribution' against their mutual enemies, but the reception was relatively subdued compared to his past raucous speeches at the event.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., March 4, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein - RC24NZ9SH48ZOXON HILL, Md. — Former President Donald Trump regaled his faithful Saturday night in suburban Washington with promises of “retribution” against their mutual enemies, but the reception was relatively subdued compared to his past raucous speeches at the event.
"In 2016, I declared I am your voice,” Trump said to the ballroom packed with his most fervent loyalists at the Conservative Political Action Conference , to some of the loudest sustained applause of the night. “Today I add: I am your warrior, I am your justice — and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I will totally obliterate the deep state."
But roughly 20% of the seats were empty, and Trump struggled at times to get a rise with his applause lines, including an extended riff about homeless military veterans being treated worse than undocumented immigrants. CPAC's annual conference draws a wide array of Republican Party activists, lawmakers, donors and other influential figures on the right. The event — hailed by some as"" — was viewed as a required campaign stop for GOP presidential hopefuls, though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence both skipped the 2023 confab, perhaps aware that Trump would easily win its straw poll.
Sany Dash, one of the vendors selling Trump and MAGA merchandise at the conference, said the crowd was not what it used to be just a few years ago. The exhibition hall had more space and fewer vendors and activists.DeSantis, who remains Trump's chief competitor for the nomination in early polling,
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