Former President Donald Trump touted his White House experience and vowed to “deal with the RINOs” in a marathon speech Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he easily won the 2024 presidential straw poll.
Trump seemed eager to settle scores with members of both parties after a turbulent first term and his re-election loss in 2020. Calling the 2024 contest “the final battle,” Trump acknowledged in the event’s keynote address that he is wiser now about the way Washington works.
“We’ll appropriately deal with the RINOs,” he said, referring to “Republicans In Name Only.” “We will never go back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove and Jeb Bush.”
Trump won the support of 62% of respondents at the annual event’s straw poll, held this year in Fort Washington, MD. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who did not attend, came in second with 20%, and third place went to Michigan billionaire Perry Johnson.
Chants of "Four more years!" erupt at CPAC during Trump's speech. pic.twitter.com/e11nQaD4Zn
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 4, 2023
The support for Johnson, whose bid to be governor of Michigan was scuttled last year before the general election, was a blow to other…
