Tipsheet

Five Must-see Moments from President Trump's CPAC Speech

Beth Baumann
Beth Baumann  |  February 28, 2021 6:45 PM

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday spoke before the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), his first public appearance since leaving the White House roughly six weeks ago. 

Here are five of the more noteworthy moments of his speech.

What Trumpism Means

"It means low taxes. It means eliminating job-killing regulations, Trumpism," he explained. "Trumpism means strong borders, but people coming into our country based on a system of merit so they can come in and help us as opposed to coming here and not being good for us, including criminals."

"It means no riots in the streets. It means law enforcement. It means very strong protection for the Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms," the president said. "It means support for the forgotten men and women who have been taken advantage of for so many years."

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Not Creating a Third Party

Although there has been growing speculation about President Trump breaking off from the Republican Party and creating his own political party, he said that was not the case.

"I am not starting a new party. That was fake news," he told the crowd. "Wouldn't that be brilliant, start a new party and let's divide our vote so that you can never win? No, we're not interested in that." 

Work to Elect Republican Leaders

The former president has vowed to work to elect Republicans up and down the ticket. 

"I will be actively working to elect strong, tough, and smart Republican leaders," he said from the stage. 

Take Back Congress and the White House

Trump has the ultimate goal of taking back the House of Representatives, the Senate, and ultimately, the White House. He hinted at another run in 2024.

"With your help we will take back the House, we will win the Senate and then a Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House. And I wonder who that will be," he said with a smile. "I wonder who that will be. Who, who, who will that be, I wonder?"

The former president also addressed a number of other issues Americans are concerned with.

Election Integrity

According to Trump, Democrats across the nation used the Wuhan coronavirus to transform the vote by mail system, something the former president said is "illegal" because state legislatures failed to approve the changes.

In order to make elections that are "honest, fair, and accurate," Trump called for "one Election Day," which would effectively eliminate early voting. 

"We must pass comprehensive election reforms and do it now," he explained. 

The former president said the election's outcome would have changed if those laws and reforms were in place.

Big Tech Censorship

Trump called on Congress to repeal Section 230 protections.

"The time has come to break up Big Tech monopolies and restore fair competition," he told the audience. "... If the federal government refuses to act then every state in the union, where we have the voices, which is a lot of them, Big Tech giants like Google, Twitter and Facebook, should be punished with major sanctions whenever they silence conservative voices."