OXON HILL, Md. (AP) \u2014 Two leading Republicans took veiled jabs at former President Donald Trump at an annual gathering of conservatives Friday, knocking \u201ccelebrity leaders\u201d not in tune with reality while noting winnable elections that had been lost as they urged a party course correction ahead of the 2024 presidential contest.
\nBut their refusal to call him out by name underscored the risks faced by potential and declared challengers worried about alienating Trump\u2019s loyal base.
\nIn their remarks, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley \u2014 both of whom served in the Trump administration \u2014 offered a snapshot of how the former president\u2019s declared and potential 2024 opponents are trying to delicately navigate his dominant role in the party while looking for ways to differentiate themselves in what could be a nasty and crowded primary contest.
\n\u201cWe can\u2019t become the left, following celebrity leaders with their own brand of identity politics, those with fragile egos who refuse to acknowledge reality,\u201d Pompeo said in an afternoon speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
\nHaley, who launched her campaign last month, hit on similar themes, noting the party has lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections.
\n\u201cOur cause is right but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans. That ends now. If you\u2019re tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation. And if you want to win \u2014 not just as a party, but as a country \u2014 then stand with me,\u201d Haley said.
\nWhile she received polite applause throughout her speech, several attendees chanted \u201cTrump! Trump! Trump!\u201d as she walked through the venue.
\nIt was a sign of the dissonance at the event as potential and declared challengers tried to make inroads at a gathering that has become closely aligned with the former president. While other declared and likely candidates were offered speaking slots, Trump has been given top billing as the Saturday evening headliner, and his son Donald Trump Jr. has been mobbed throughout the conference by excited fans.
\nHaley and Pompeo were among a handful of announced or potential Republican presidential candidates who attended the CPAC event, which was once a must-stop for GOP hopefuls but has been less of a draw this year.
\nFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina skipped the event this year as it\u2019s been dimmed by controversy and its overt homage to Trump.
\nLike Haley, Pompeo noted recent Republican losses over the years and blamed the party for its shortcomings.
\n\u201cWe lost race after winnable race. It\u2019s because voters didn\u2019t trust us to do any better than the tax-and-spend liberals,\u201d he said, echoing a criticism raised by some attendees. \u201cEvery recent administration, Republican and Democrat alike, added trillions in dollars to our debt. That is deeply unconservative.\u201d
\nMore broadly, he said that voters had \u201clost trust in conservative ideas.\u201d
\n\u201cLosing is bad because losing is bad. But the principles that we stand for are what\u2019s really at risk. And it\u2019s not a political problem. The problem is that the losses are a symptom of something much bigger. It\u2019s a crisis in conservatism,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve lost confidence that we are right.\u201d
\nIn an interview before his speech, Pompeo told The Associated Press that he had chosen to attend this year\u2019s event because it\u2019s \u201ca great group of people who represent a broad swath of our party.\u201d
\nHe brushed aside the significance of Saturday\u2019s straw poll of CPAC attendees on their 2024 presidential preference, an unscientific survey that Trump is expected to win, while noting that the election is more than a year and a half away.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a long way to go. There\u2019s lots of ground to cover and I think everyone who decides to get in the race will have a lot of opportunity in the fall to make their case,\u201d Pompeo said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in straw polls. I\u2019ve done great. I\u2019ve done less great. I don\u2019t think it says a whole lot about how this will end.\u201d
\nPompeo, one of a long list of potential candidates, said he is still mulling a decision about whether to challenge his former boss for the nomination.
\n\u201cStill working our way through, figuring it out,\u201d he said, adding that he and his family were \u201cnow within a couple months of a decision.\u201d In the meantime, \u201cwe\u2019re doing all the things one would do to be prepared to make the case to the American people,\u201d Pompeo said.
\nPompeo also said without hesitation that he will support the eventual Republican nominee, quipping, \u201cIt seems unlikely that President Biden would be someone I could get behind.\u201d
\nThat stands in contrast to Pence, who declined to say Thursday whether he would back his former boss if Trump ends up the party\u2019s pick in 2024.
\n\u201cI think we\u2019ll have better choices,\u201d Pence told The Associated Press in an interview in South Carolina. \u201cI\u2019m persuaded that no one could have defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 except Donald Trump, but I think we live in a different time and it calls for different leadership.\u201d
\nThe Republican National Committee is planning to block candidates from its primary debates if they do not sign a pledge to support the GOP\u2019s ultimate presidential nominee, setting up a potential clash with candidates including Trump, who has raised the possibility of leaving the Republican Party and launching an independent candidacy if he does not win the GOP nomination outright.
\nVivek Ramaswamy, a tech entrepreneur and author of the book \u201cWoke, Inc.\u201d who is also running for president, addressed the convention Friday and told the AP later in an interview that he saw himself as a successor to Trump.
\n\u201cI\u2019m building on the foundation he laid,\u201d Ramaswamy said, adding that he\u2019d focus more on ending affirmative action and climate change mitigation than the former president. He also said he would support the eventual GOP nominee \u201cif everybody else makes that commitment.\u201d
\nWhile the Trump faithful gathered in Maryland, the influential anti-tax group Club For Growth, which has clashed with Trump, held a competing event in Florida where DeSantis and others were invited but Trump was not \u2014 a sharp illustration of some in the party\u2019s conservative flank seeking a new direction.
\nDavid McIntosh, Club For Growth\u2019s president, said in an interview Friday that DeSantis, who kicked off the group\u2019s donor summit with a Thursday night speech, did not say whether he was going to run for president and instead focused his remarks on policy issues.
\n\u201cHe talked a lot about his win in the last election but did not indicate anything one way or another about a presidential run,\u201d McIntosh said.
\nHe said DeSantis was enthusiastically received by a crowd of about 150 people and spoke about his record in Florida and his vision of governing in the state.
\nMcIntosh said Pence, also at the event, did not indicate when he might make a decision on whether to seek the presidency. Haley, Scott and Ramaswamy were also slated to speak in Florida.<\/p>\n
Apnews<\/p>\n
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