NATIONAL HARBOR, MD—Today’s dispatch is from CPAC, a wild ‘n sexy spring break for college Republicans:
- Donald Trump delivered a speech in which he inadvertently coined a new word, “sequesture.” What does it mean?! Context won’t help, but you can read the whole thing here.
- In this same speech, Trump went on another tirade against “fake news,” and the “dishonest media,” which he has arbitrarily defined as news that contains anonymous sources and stuff he disagrees with. He issued a vague threat against the media, saying, “It doesn’t represent the people, it never will represent the people and we’re going to do something about it.” Hours later, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer blocked CNN, Politico, and the New York Times from a press briefing, while granting access to right wing outlets like Breitbart and the Washington Times. By the way, in December, which seems forever ago but was only two months ago, Spicer (correctly) stated that open media is “what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship.” So that’s cool!
- Trump supporters waved around Russian flags with “TRUMP” plastered on them, a prank by 22-year-old Jason Charter and 36-year-old Ryan Clayton. “Most people didn’t realize it was a Russian flag, or they didn’t care,” Charter told the Atlantic in a phone interview. In a fake Russian accent, he added, “It show how Trump and Russia are so connected, they like peas in pod!” Charter was later kicked out of CPAC for yelling “fascist” and “Putin’s puppet” during Trump’s speech.
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- Breitbart is hosting its annual party on a boat, we’re told. Jezebel was not invited this year. Sad!
- Facebook is a co-sponsor of CPAC, but insists that forking over a reported $120,000 to help fund a weekend of politicians bashing the first amendment, Muslims, and reproductive rights is “not an endorsement of any particular position or platform.”
- Sebastian Gorka, the Trump aide linked to anti-semitic groups, enjoyed a second busy day at CPAC.
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Here are some tweets that the president was allowed to publish:
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