On the surface, this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was a garish pageant of jubilance and cruelty. But beneath this flashy exterior lurked something more serious: the outline of a transnational far-right coalition hell-bent on revenge.
What I witnessed in Washington, DC, in late February was a Republican Party that, despite largely being in control of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the US government, is still pushing a spite-driven narrative of victimhood and retribution to galvanize its base. Rallying around Donald Trump as a figurehead, the MAGA right is on a mission to purge the federal government and the American political landscape of its perceived enemies. Don’t be distracted by the carnival atmosphere: this political bloc takes itself very seriously, and it’s hard at work forming alliances with like-minded groups in other countries.
The halls of the Gaylord National Convention Center were home to a cast of colorful characters in a celebratory mood. An elderly group of five in yellow sequin jackets with giant glittering red letters hanging around their necks that, when properly assembled, spelled TRUMP. A woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty with the words “TRUMP TRIBE OF TEXAS” on her dress. A photo booth flanked with red ring lights and a cardboard cutout of the president giving two thumbs up. Three tattooed millennial crypto investors calling themselves “the Maga Boyz” decked head to toe in matching stars and stripes.
People cheered each other as they crossed paths. They enjoyed drinks and food in the giant atrium. They had won. It was time for a victory lap.
Frequently, the celebratory energy veered into sadism. One man wore a Native American MAGA headdress, a taunt to the woke police. Another donned an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) jacket, lionizing the agency known for raiding workplaces and separating immigrant children from their parents. A photo…
Auteur: Julian Feeld
