Trump’s fans at CPAC jeer ’24 challenger Haley

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was met with chants of “We love Trump” and other jeers from supporters of the former president after she finished her speech to a gathering of influential conservatives.

Haley, the first major candidate to officially challenge Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was berated by hecklers Friday as she exited the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington.

The episode demonstrates Trump’s passionate following among some conservatives, despite questions about whether enthusiasm for the former president is fading as polls indicate that many Republican voters want an alternative.

Other speakers denounced transgender youth medical treatment and criticized the role of Dr. Anthony Fauci in fighting covid-19.

A former U.N. ambassador under Trump, Haley, 51, got a warm welcome from the CPAC crowd as she began her remarks. She focused her speech mostly on criticizing President Joe Biden and “socialist Democrats” — as well as the threat posed by China — and drew no direct contrasts with Trump.

She did indirectly jab the former president by pointing out that Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven of the past eight presidential elections and by calling for a mental competency test for all politicians over 75 years old — which would apply to Trump, 76.

“Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans,” Haley said. “That ends now. If you’re tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation.”

Trump — who credits CPAC with helping to launch his political career — is scheduled to address the crowd this evening.

Mike Pompeo avoided drawing direct contrasts with Trump other than to point out that the former president added $8 trillion to the U.S. debt that now stands at $31 trillion, which he said is “deeply unconservative” and “indecent and can’t continue.”

The former secretary of state did note that Republicans have had disappointing results in the past three federal elections and appeared to allude to Trump’s character — and tease his own White House run — when he said people who claim to be conservative excuse hypocrisy by saying voters elect a president, not a Sunday school teacher.

“That’s true, but having taught Sunday school, maybe we could get both,” Pompeo said in his speech. “It’s time for us to make sure we’re living out these very things we’re asking others to do.”

GREENE’S FANS

Shortly after U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrapped up her speech, which mostly focused on attacking medical treatments for transgender youth, she made her way down media row at the conference.

A horde of fans begging for photos and journalists with cameras and microphones shouting questions crowded around her. While there were other high-profile Republicans around at the same time Friday, including Donald Trump Jr. and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, none drew quite the crowd that Greene did.

“She is a rock star,” Melissa Cornwell exclaimed to her CPAC crew, all of them donned in red sequin jackets that said “Proud Texans” on the back and yellow T-shirts that, when they all stood together, spelled out “Trump.”

Cornwell said she went to CPAC this year to hear from the former president. But she was also glad to hear from Greene, whose speech Cornwell described as “right on point.” Cornwell said Greene has what it takes to be president one day or perhaps Trump’s vice president if he wins in 2024.

“Her beliefs are solid,” Cornwell said. “That’s what America needs to get back on track to protect our youth and support our Constitution.”

Greene, who is in her second term in Congress representing a deeply conservative northwest Georgia district, has made a name for herself among conservative audiences such as the ones found at CPAC. She received a 10-minute speaking slot Friday morning and delivered a speech focused on the battle over transgender rights, with her opposition to further U.S. support of Ukraine in its war with Russia sprinkled in.

“I don’t know about you, but when it comes to kids, I think the Republican Party has a duty — we have a responsibility — and that is to be the party that protects children,” she said, drawing one of several standing ovations.

Both issues, Greene said, circle back to her core values of honoring Christian principles and protecting youth. Her critics say she is spouting a brand of Christian nationalism that undermines democracy and is at its core homophobic and transphobic, but those aren’t the people who would be found at CPAC.

‘PROSECUTE FAUCI’

Sen. Ted Cruz demanded prosecution for Fauci, telling conservative activists Thursday that the nation’s most prominent public health expert lied about covid-19 s origin and “destroyed” lives by encouraging closure of schools and businesses and prodding Americans to wear masks and get vaccinated.

“He led policies that destroyed peoples’ lives, that hurt tens of millions of kids across this country and destroyed businesses,” Cruz said at the conference. “He elevated politics over science and medicine. … He told millions of Americans lies — willingly, knowingly, glibly.”

Cruz has long denounced Fauci as a “despot” who committed perjury at a Senate hearing in May 2021 when he denied that the National Institutes of Health had ever funded “gain-of-function research” at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Such research involves altering viruses to make them more transmissible. Independent fact-checkers say the evidence remains thin of U.S. funding for such research in China.

The Wuhan lab has long been suspected as the source of the pandemic because it specializes in the sort of bat-carried pathogens that killed millions over the past three years, starting at a nearby “wet market” where meat from bats and other species is sold.

“By the way, CPAC is serving bat soup for lunch. It’s delicious,” Cruz quipped to laughter.

Information for this article was contributed by Christian Hall and Mark Niquette of Bloomberg News (WPNS), Tia Mitchell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS) and Todd J. Gillman of The Dallas Morning News (TNS).