The former president of the United States donald trump (2017-2021) confirmed this Saturday the fracture of the Republican Party in the speech with which he closed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)in which he threw several darts against colleagues from the political formation.

Until now the CPAC had been considered the largest annual gathering of conservatives in the US, but this year it has been reduced to a Trumpist forum with absences of republican weight figures and this was evident in Trump’s words. He claimed that his formation was dominated, before he came to the White House, by “a bunch of geeks, neo-conservatives, globalists, open-border fanatics, and dorks…”.

“We will never be the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove and Jeb Bush“, in reference to former leaders of the Republicans known for their moderation (Ryan was Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rove was an adviser to former President George W. Bush and Jeb Bush was Governor of Florida). At another time, he criticized “the dynasties policies rooted in both parties” and addressed the head of the Republicans in the Upper House, Mitch McConnell.

“Mitch McConnell is listening” mocked the ex-president. Later, he regretted that the Democrats are united, which, in his opinion, has prevented the president of the country, Joe Biden, or his son Hunter from having to account for alleged crimes of corruption that Trump assured that they have committed without providing any evidence.

“Democrats stand united, They don’t have a Mitt Romney, they don’t have values“, he complained, referring to the former Republican presidential candidate and senator from Utah who has distanced himself on numerous occasions from Trumpism. Trump failed to fill the CPAC auditorium, which this year has been quite lackluster, with a main room more than half empty in most of the presentations.

Among the audience for the former US president’s speech were the former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and his son eduardo bolsonaro, federal representative, who had intervened before Trump. In fact, at the beginning of the speech, Trump greeted Bolsonaro and his “friend” Eduardo.

Most of the attendees were convinced of the Trumpist cause, they laughed at the Republican leader’s jokes and interrupted him on several occasions with their shouts and cheers. For the rest, Trump went through some of his favorite topics: he lashed out at Justice for the numerous investigations opened against him; he denounced the misinformation attacking the “fake news“, as he often alludes to the mainstream media, although he often embellishes his speeches with falsehoods; and criticized how the withdrawal from Afghanistan was carried out.

“I will prevent World War III”

He also stuck out his relationship with the Russian president, Vladimir Putinand the Chinese, Xi Jinping. In that sense, he bragged that Russia did not take any countries during his tenure because he got along “very well with Putin”. Throughout his tenure, Trump showed more affinity with leaders such as Putin, Bolsonaro or the North Korean, Kim Jong-Un, with whom he came to have an exchange of letters, than with his country’s traditional allies such as the European Union or Canada.

During his speech, Trump sold himself as “the only candidate who can prevent world war 3“, something that it will do, he says, “very easily.” Furthermore, he affirms that the conflict on a global scale will take “if something does not happen quickly”.

In this way, with a speech of one hour and 45 minutes, the former president closed the CPAC, which took place between Wednesday and this Saturday at the National Harbor Convention Center, on the outskirts of Washington.

The absences and accusations of sexual abuse by its organizer, Matt Schlapp, a Trump ally, have tarnished this year’s edition, where Republican figures such as party leaders in Congress, Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell; or “presidential” politicians, such as former vice president Mike Pence and the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis Trump announced in November that he is going to run for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential elections and in his words this Saturday he made numerous allusions to his hypothetical return to power, although first he will have to convince the militants of his party, beyond his staunch supporters.

The ex-president earned the applause of his own by assuring that if he returns to power he will stop inflation and take measures against gender-affirming treatments, one of the causes in which Republicans in various states are committed, in a nod to Christians evangelists. Knowing its base, the CPAC, in fact, will close its doors this Saturday with a mass after Trump’s speech.