At the Conservative Political Action Conference this past weekend, the tone was crystal clear: Donald Trump is the frontrunner for candidacy in the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Former President Trump had the coveted time slot of Saturday evening to speak, while other highly qualified Republican candidates such as Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis were relegated to mid-day and excluded. Trump’s allies, among them Sean Spicer, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr., and Lara Trump, filled the other time slots throughout the conference.

CPAC has become "essentially a campaign rally" for Trump and many Republicans at the conference have come to view it as a showcase to demonstrate their loyalty to the former President. Trump loyalists have prioritized nostalgia for his term over the GOP’s imminent political fight, despite other potential candidates like DeSantis and Haley who poll better against President Biden. Trump’s ally Matt Schlapp