Donald Trump is one of the few major presidential candidates present at the conference. ‘Especially in presidential election years, you see who’s interesting and who stands out. That won’t actually happen this year, because only Donald Trump is one of the keynote speakers,” Mens notes.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has canceled the conservative conference. “That indicates that this has become a bit of a Trump conference.” But political junkies will have to wait until the climax. Trump will not be discussed until the last day, next Sunday. ‘He’s been appearing here since 2011. And then it became clear that people are crazy about him. Since then he had begun to think more seriously about the presidency.’
Nikki Haley
The only other major conservative candidate in Congress is Nikki Haley, a former United Nations envoy under Trump. But she may very well eventually become Trump’s running mate. She applies for that too.’
The fact that hardly any major Conservative Party politicians are present detracts from the old image of the conference. “Even mainstream conservatives think it’s funny. Now they think it’s a joke,’ Mens explains. “Most of the party is now made up of Trumpists, but the traditional flank, which also includes Liz Cheney, say there is nothing left of the conference.”
Glorification of Putin
This is reflected, among other things, in the rhetoric that is heard. For example, Biden is ‘ridiculed’, ‘Putin is glorified’ and ‘undemocratic’ noises are heard. “This shows how the conference has changed,” says Mens.
The latest polls show once again that Trump still scores high. About 40% of Republicans say they would vote for him if there was an election today. 30 percent would vote for Ron DeSantis.”