![]() Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, heralded her state’s approach to COVID, saying proudly that she “never mandated masks” or “ordered a single business or church to close” to loud applause. Speaker after speaker celebrated that they were in Florida, a state with relatively lax restrictions in place due to the coronavirus. The mandate that all attendees at the event wear masks provoked ire among some attendees and required prominent signs and a reminder onstage. ![]() This is not to say that libertarian tendencies disappeared. Politicians took turns touting their willingness to take on the left as they all tried to tap into the “but he fights” ethos that fueled Trump’s rise. There were strident warnings about Marxism and Black Lives Matter, hardline stances set out on immigration and the rise of China and newfound zeal to combat and regulate social-media companies. ![]() Instead, the focus was on the type of culture-war red meat that had been a staple of Trumpism. He didn’t criticize the underlying cost but instead “waste” - like what he termed “a Silicon Valley subway,” a provision to extend a mass transit line from San Francisco through to San Jose. When speaking onstage about the legislation, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was riled that spending in the legislation was misdirected in his view. While the House of Representatives was passing a $1.9 trillion COVID bill that would, if enacted, be the most expensive piece of legislation in American history, there was little discussion of it or the national debt or a host of other former right wing bugaboos. This political shift was most notable in what was not mentioned onstage. Government no longer was the enemy, but instead a tool to combat threats like big tech and “cancel culture.” Instead, it marked the further transition of the American right away from its libertarian roots to a more European model of populist politics. Each day began with the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem and countless speakers professed their love of country. It’s not that the event wasn’t patriotic. The group that puts on the Conservative Political Action Conference is called the American Conservative Union, but the first two days of speeches at this year’s CPAC in Orlando suggest the right-wing activists who attend the annual conclave have embraced a foreign political ideology. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaking at CPAC on Saturday.
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