“Funeral for CPAC”: The Good Liars’ Jason Selvig paints a not-so-flattering portrait of CPAC

[0:00] FOR DECADES THE ANNUAL CONFAB OF THE CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE KNOWN AS CPAC HAS BEEN [0:06] THE CATTLE CALL FOR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS FROM ITS LAUNCH IN 1974 WHEN THEN [0:12] CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR RONALD REAGAN ADDRESSED THE PARTY FAITHFUL INVOKING AMERICA AS A CITY UPON [0:18] A HILL TO COMMANDING RENEWED INFLUENCE DURING THE TEA PARTY ERA CPAC HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FORCE [0:24] IN GEOPOLITICS IN THE MODERN YEARS BUT IN THE PAST FEW YEARS SCANDAL HAS TAKEN OVER AT CPAC AND [0:33] IT'S BEEN ROCKY AND THIS YEAR THE GATHERING'S DIMINISHED POWER IN THE REPUBLICAN ECOSYSTEM [0:38] CAME INTO SHARP FOCUS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2016 PRESIDENT TRUMP DID NOT EVEN BOTHER TO [0:43] ATTEND AND VICE PRESIDENT J.D VANCE WHO WON THE CPAC STRAW POLL FOR THE TOP OF THE 2028 REPUBLICAN [0:49] TICKET WAS ALSO M.I.A NOW SENATOR TED CRUZ DID MAKE THE PILGRIMAGE BUT IT ONLY [0:54] GOT HIM AROUND ONE PERCENT AMONG ATTENDEES COMEDIAN JASON SELVIG WAS AT CPAC THIS WEEKEND [1:00] FOR HIS WORK ON THE GOOD LIARS HE JOINS US NOW SO JASON THIS CPAC REALLY SEEMS LIKE IT WAS JUST [1:08] THE END OF AN ERA AND THE GLORY DAYS ARE OVER AND THE BATON THE POWER OF THE MOVEMENT IS WITH OTHER [1:16] ORGANIZATIONS IS WITH OTHER PLACES DID YOU SEE THE GRASSROOTS ACTIVISTS THERE THAT REALLY ORGANIZE AND [1:24] DELIVER FROM THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO [1:24] THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY TO THEIR PARTY [1:54] He got sued. And actually, Mike Lindell, I met him at another CPAC that I was at. And I asked [2:02] him one question about the election. And then he immediately accused me of having my parents work [2:09] for Dominion. He's like, you work for Dominion. Your parents work for Dominion. That's why you're [2:13] asking this question. And now he's going to be like the candidate for governor. It's absolutely [2:18] wild. How was the vibe compared to the other CPACs? It seemed like it was. I mean, number one, [2:23] we talked about this before. The tickets were really cheap. And the day before, I think we went [2:29] to a CPAC in 2022, the day before, you could get tickets for like $250. And Donald Trump was going [2:34] to speak there. I think the tickets were under $50, like $37 now. And it seems, yeah. And if [2:41] you looked inside when people were speaking, there was an overflow room, but it wasn't used [2:47] because the seats weren't actually filled inside. But we talked to a lot of people, [2:53] who obviously were still supporting Donald Trump. But some of the people that were there, [2:59] who were younger, in their 20s, they said they came to kind of see the funeral of CPAC [3:04] and just confirm that it really was over. Well, what do they think is coming next? [3:09] It dies and what takes its place? I think it's a turning point. I think [3:13] it's a turning point. And I have to say, I think some of the things that some of the younger people [3:19] that I talked to were a little bit scary, because they were saying things that sounded [3:23] a lot like white nationalism. It sounded a lot, it sounded racist, to be honest. [3:29] What did they say? Well, they were saying basically that the [3:33] United States was founded by Europeans, and that is the identity of the United States. And [3:40] it was a mission from God to conquer a land, and the United States was conquered by Europeans. [3:47] And now that they're blessed, the United States is blessed by God because of conquering the people [3:53] that lived here before. [3:54] And it was more about religion and more about Christianity and that identity. [4:01] And that included things like teaching the Bible in school and teaching it literally, [4:07] like Noah's flood actually happened, all these things actually happened. [4:11] So it was very different from the people we talked to before who were like, [4:15] Trump is number one. It seems like it's moving in a different direction that is not Trump. [4:21] And to me, I find that, [4:24] you know, it's very worrying. [4:25] And was there anybody who embodied that movement or the future of that movement that these young [4:30] people that you've talked to, who were there to see the funeral of CPAC and the rise of something [4:34] in its place, gravitate towards to the way that Trump may have commanded maybe a decade ago? [4:40] Well, I didn't hear this explicitly, but I kind of heard it through some of the things that I [4:43] heard from people. And also on the road at other Trump events. You could hear a little of like [4:49] the Nick Fuentes of it coming out with young people. And I've heard this from people who are [4:54] from talking to people who have children who are in their 20s or in college. They'll say, [5:01] oh, my son is watching Nick Fuentes all the time. And it's like people you wouldn't expect. [5:06] Like, I think a friend of mine would say that they had a friend who was just got really into [5:13] Nick Fuentes. So it's happening. And you're kind of seeing it bubble to the surface now, [5:18] which it's very different from the Trump rallies we've gone to, like the way people are talking [5:23] about this. [5:24] It's very different than what we heard in the past. [5:26] I do want to play at least one of your interviews that I think we have [5:30] with a supporter, a Donald Trump supporter who was there. Let's play that. [5:38] You think Donald Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize? [5:42] Yes. [5:43] You think he should win the Nobel Peace Prize? [5:44] Yeah. [5:45] What do you think about the war with Iran? [5:49] Bomb the shit out of him and get out. [5:52] And you think Donald Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize? [5:54] Yes, I do. [5:57] There you have it. [5:58] It makes so much sense. [6:01] Cognitive dissonance there, but I guess you're used to that. [6:04] Yeah, yeah. And look, that wasn't the only person who said that, who said that he should win that. [6:10] And also, they totally approve of all the bombing that he's doing. The other interesting thing was [6:15] that a lot of people, if you would just bring up Jeffrey Epstein to people, bring up the Epstein [6:20] files, they would immediately not roll their eyes, but be like, oh, OK, here we go, because it's such [6:26] a non-issue to them now. All right. Jason Selva, good to see you as always, my friend. Really [6:31] appreciate you. [6:32] Thank you. [6:32] Going into dangerous territory and coming back to report on it. I really appreciate it. [6:37] It's my pleasure. Yeah, I guess. I don't know if that's the right thing to say. [6:39] Stay safe down there.