Donald Trump, whose efforts at painting himself as a strong conservative were seriously damaged last night in the GOP debate, has shown his contempt for conservatives, canceling his appearance at one of the most important conservative events in the nation.
Trump was scheduled to appear on Saturday, but instead, his campaign released a statement asserting Trump would attend rallies in Kansas and Florida. The statement added, “Because of this, he will not be able to speak at CPAC as he has done for many consecutive years. Mr. Trump would like to thank Matt Schlapp and all of the executives at CPAC and looks forward to returning to next year, hopefully as president of the United States.”
The American Conservative Union, the conference’s organizers, stated, “We are very disappointed Donald Trump has decided at the last minute to drop out of CPAC. This comes at a critical time in our movement’s history. His decision sends a clear message to grassroots conservatives … CPAC is the heart and soul of the conservative movement and will be, with or without Mr. Trump. Since we invited him several months ago—and Mr. Trump accepted our invitation and terms —we made it clear all candidates would follow the same format. And now he is backing out.”
Trump is likely worried about his candidacy for the first time, after he was eviscerated in Thursday’s debate by his nearest rival, Ted Cruz. Cruz won virtually unanimous rave reviews for his performance while Trump waffled on numerous issues, backtracked on his hard-line immigration stance, bragged about his penis, and insisted that as president, he would order American soldiers to break the law by murdering families of terrorists.
For all of Trump’s braggadocio and self-declared toughness, he has a hard time when he is in a hostile environment; the likely possibility is that after Thursday’s debate, conservatives would have some tough questions for him, and would not be satisfied by the usual platitudes and inaccuracies Trump offers with abandon.
The likely possibility is that after Thursday’s debate, conservatives would have some tough questions for him, and would not be satisfied by the usual platitudes and inaccuracies Trump offers with abandon.
The most hilarious moment of Thursday’s debate came when Cruz told Trump to “breathe, breathe, breathe.”
Apparently Trump’s idea of taking a breath includes ducking hard questions until he can catch his breath again.