Donald Trump performed a victory lap of sorts in front of a sizable crowd of conservatives as he celebrated his first month in office. His former adviser was depicted saluting Hitler in a chainsaw, and Elon Musk, a billionaire, waved a chainsaw.
Trump addressed his political opponents, including Joe Biden, in a rally-like speech to an energized audience at the four-day Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, blasting his accomplishments since taking office on January 20.
Trump used an expletive to describe Biden, which earned a standing ovation from the audience, and said, “Everything he touched turned to s***.”
Trump also declared that “nobody’s ever seen anything” like his administration’s sweeping effort to fire thousands of federal employees , and , shrink the size of government, congratulating himself for “dominating” the capital and sending bureaucrats “packing”.
Trump, who has suggested running for a third term in 2028 against what the US Constitution says, “We’re going to forge a new and lasting political majority that will drive American politics for generations to come.”
What other highlights of the CPAC are there?
Bannon’s Nazi-like salute
Steve Bannon, a former political adviser to Donald Trump and former chief strategist, was accused of performing a Nazi salute at CPAC, despite insisting that it was all just a “wave.”
After telling the audience to “Fight!,” Bannon extended his right arm in the air, his palm flat. Fight! Fight”! – a reference to the yells Trump made following an assassination attempt.
The gesture, which drew comparisons to a gesture Musk made during a Trump inauguration event, prompted immediate backlash, including from the Anti-Defamation League, due to its similarities with the right-arm salute linked in history to the Nazis.
Even the far-right National Rally president in France had to cancel his scheduled speech at the same time due to the incident, which Bannon later called “a boy, not a man” and who is “unworthy to lead France.”
Musk waves a chainsaw
As he appeared at the CPAC, Musk waved a chainsaw in the air, praising Democrats for their “treason” and for being open to the Federal Reserve audit.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke about his fight to reduce government spending and reduce the federal workforce while wearing shades and his hat, which he dubbed “Make America Great Again.”
Then, according to Musk, he revealed Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, had a gift for him.
The Argentinian leader then carried the red chainsaw to Musk, who performed its wave in front of a cheering crowd. The chainsaw was engraved with Milei’s slogan, “Viva la libertad, carajo”, which is Spanish for “Long live liberty, damn it”.
Milei, who has been frequently praised by Musk, popularised the tool while campaigning in 2023 and proposing slashing public spending.
Milei bats for small government
The Argentinian leader reiterated on Saturday that his policies in Argentina are similar to those in the US and that the CPAC audience should continue to support Trump’s reductionist measures.
Speaking in Spanish, Milei expressed support for Trump’s efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), saying it is out of line with the president’s agenda and claiming it was wasteful.
Milei remarked that “our approach is comparable to that of our dear friend Elon Musk.” “To go office by office, take your current work and dispose of it.” That’s why I gave him a chainsaw”.
In his campaign for the year 2023, he used a different chainsaw to represent his plans to destroy the overcrowded state. But a year into his presidency, Argentina’s poverty rate hit nearly 53 percent, prompting analysts to call his policy “a disaster”.
Meloni asserts that Europe has not been lost.
Despite rising tensions over the fate of Ukraine, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated via a videolink that the relationship would continue between Trump and Europe.
Blaming “ruling classes” and “mainstream media”, Meloni insisted Europe was not “lost”.
“Our adversaries hope that President Trump will move away from us]Europe]”, Meloni said, adding, “knowing him as a strong and effective leader, I bet that those who hope for divisions will be proven wrong”.
Source: Aljazeera
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