ORLANDO, Florida — Former President Donald Trump will break with U.S. political tradition with a sharp indictment of President Biden in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee just five weeks after leaving the White House.
Regardless of party affiliation, former presidents typically wait months, if not years, to begin criticizing their immediate successor. But, according to excerpts of Trump’s Sunday afternoon address at CPAC, the former president will declare that Biden’s 39-day-old administration “has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history.” Trump plans to assault Biden’s immigration agenda and will say Biden should ignore opposition from teachers’ unions and reopen public schools.
“We all knew that the Biden administration was going to be bad. But none of us imagined just how bad they would be and how far they would go,” the former president is expected to say. “Biden’s radical immigration policies aren’t just illegal, they are immoral, they are heartless, and they are a betrayal of our nation’s core values.”
Trump will also say, according to excerpts, “I call on Joe Biden to get the schools open right now. No more special interest delays.”
CPAC CELEBRATES TRUMP AS IF HE DIDN’T LOSE IN 2020
Trump’s CPAC appearance marks his first formal, public address to an audience since leaving the White House on Jan. 20.
The conference has always been friendly terrain for the 45th president. That remains true despite Trump’s defeat in November and the Republican Party’s loss of majorities in the House and Senate during his presidency. Over the course of the four-day gathering at a Hyatt Regency in Orlando, attendees proudly donned Trump paraphernalia while listening to speeches and panel discussions claiming the November election was stolen, reaffirming their existing belief that Biden is an illegitimate president.
Missing from this year’s CPAC was any reassessment of Trump’s leadership. Rather the program functioned as a coronation of his command of the GOP and the conservative movement. The former president plans to oblige. Excerpts from his speech suggest he plans to detail his vision for the future of a Republican Party and conservative movement firmly under his control. Trump is not ruling out a third White House bid in 2024.
“I stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we began together four years ago is far from over,” Trump will say — if he sticks to the script. “We are gathered this afternoon to talk about the future — the future of our movement, the future of our party, and the future of our beloved country.”
Some high-ranking Republicans in Congress have criticized the former president for making unfounded claims that the election was stolen and for the role they believed he played in the violent siege of the United States Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump has responded as he usually does — by hitting back. It is unclear if he will mention his Republican opponents by name Sunday, but it would be in character for him to do so.
According to excerpts, Trump will say that “the Republican Party is united. The only division is between a handful of Washington, D.C., establishment political hacks, and everybody else all over the country.”
Also in Trump’s prepared remarks:
- “The future of the Republican Party is as a party that defends the social, economic, and cultural interests and values of working American families — of every race, every color, and every creed. Republicans believe that the needs of everyday citizens must come first.”
- “We believe in standing up to China, shutting down outsourcing, bringing back our factories and supply chains, and ensuring that America, not China, dominates the future. Companies that leave America to create jobs in China, and other countries that have ripped us off for years, should not be rewarded, they should be tariffed, fined, and punished.”
