US Politics

Marion McKeone: Inside Trump’s CPAC cult of far-right extremism and political cage-fighting

The once genteel Republican convention is now an exhausting, enervating yardstick by which the erosion of political norms can be measured

CPAC a full-throated howl of inchoate rage, a furious, additive and alcohol-fuelled orgy of retribution fantasies and conspiracy theories. Picture: Bloomberg

A pinball game based on January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Woke tears - also known as water - selling for $6 a bottle. Big hair and bigger grievances. Cultish conspiracies. It could only be CPAC 2024 – the annual Grand Guignol tableau of American nihilism. An intersection of cult and carney, of far-right extremism and political cage-fighting.

Many years ago, the Conservative Political Action Committee’s annual gathering was a Mecca for genteel wishing ...