Nothing can destroy former President Donald Trump in the eyes of those who love him, one reason why his hold on American politics remains formidable.
The ex-President showed this weekend that defeat after a single term, the disgrace of his insurrection against American democracy and the deaths of 400,000 Americans on his watch in a pandemic he downplayed don’t hurt his appeal to Republicans. In fact, the efforts of potential 2024 rivals to replicate his extremism show Trump’s strange magic is only validated by his transgressions.
The former President was the star turn at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas Sunday — an organization that once lionized a champion of global democracy, President Ronald Reagan, yet has morphed into a Trump cult.
“We were doing so well until the rigged election happened to come along,” Trump said, voicing the lie at the center of the conference that he has made the entry point for GOP candidates in 2022, potentially poisoning US elections for years.
