It’s that time of year again, when all the worst people you can think of get together to celebrate their own bigotry and terrible opinions. Yup, the Conservative Political Action Conference happened this weekend in Dallas, Texas and it was just as horrifying as ever—in fact, “horrifying” has been trending online Monday as a way to sum up the weekend’s events.
First up, “horrifying” is how Dr. Anthony Fauci described some of the attendees’ reactions to news that the U.S. is lagging behind its vaccination goals.
Alex Berenson—a writer dubbed “the pandemic’s wrongest man” by The Atlantic—spoke at the conference on Saturday. “The government was hoping that they could sort of sucker 90% of the population into getting vaccinated,” he told the crowd.
“And it isn’t happening,” he added. And the audience cheered.
When asked for a reaction, Fauci told CNN’s Jake Tapper: “It’s horrifying. I mean, they are cheering about someone saying that it’s a good thing for people not to try and save their lives.”
“I mean, if you just unpack that for a second,” he continued, “it’s almost frightening to say, ‘Hey, guess what, we don’t want you to do something to save your life. Yay!’ Everybody starts screaming and clapping. I just don’t get that. And I don’t think that anybody who’s thinking clearly can get that.”
“It’s horrifying … it’s almost frightening” — Dr. Fauci on CPAC attendees cheering against Covid vaccinations pic.twitter.com/QUplEFb1s7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 11, 2021
That was far from the only “horrifying” event at the conference. Here are some other highlights:
—Donald Trump (unsurprisingly but still distressingly) won the conference’s straw poll for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee. The annual poll is not a great predictor of who will actually get the nomination come election year, but it is indicative of current conservative values. And right now, Trump is those values.
#BREAKING: Former President Trump wins the #CPAC straw poll for 2024 GOP presidential nominee, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) winning the straw poll for a race in which Trump doesn’t run. pic.twitter.com/u6mI1H8IG2
— Forbes (@Forbes) July 11, 2021
—Trump was also present at the conference and gave a rambling speech so chock-full of misinformation that Fox News had to air a disclaimer in the middle of it.
This is a real disclaimer that ran on Fox during Trump’s CPAC Dallas speech: “THE VOTING SYSTEM COMPANIES HAVE DENIED THE VARIOUS ALLEGATIONS MADE BY PRESIDENT TRUMP…” pic.twitter.com/cTvWJgV9DK
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 11, 2021
—Caitlyn Jenner was also at the conference and was accosted at the hotel where the event took place. An attendee followed her through the lobby, hurling transphobic attacks and shouting Jenner’s deadname at her while recording the encounter. It was so foul, even Tomi Lahren—someone we hate finding ourselves on the same side of an argument as—condemned the harasser’s behavior.
Hearing how some “conservatives” treated @Caitlyn_Jenner at CPAC makes my blood boil. There’s no room for your hate in the America First movement. We believe in freedom and we believe in limited government. The way she chooses to live her personal life harms you in no way!
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) July 12, 2021
Of course, Tomi did nothing to address her own history of transphobia or the other transphobic comments made by speakers at this same event.
Tomi Lahren can’t even keep her hatred consistent. pic.twitter.com/eHvVghzKZx
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) July 12, 2021
I wish nothing but an embarrassing defeat for Caitlyn Jenner. She doesn’t belong anywhere near the governor’s office. But what we will not tolerate, dear readers, is transphobia.
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) July 12, 2021
Tomi can pretend like that sort of transphobic attack is out of line with current conservative values, but it’s just a straight-up lie and always has been.
this is, frankly, bullshit. cpac was always a swirling ball of conspiratorial nonsense. congrats to the msm for finally saying it is this, but it was that eons ago when you all refused to say so. https://t.co/UFL0CRxA4c
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) July 12, 2021
(image: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
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Published: Jul 12, 2021 02:07 pm