In what will be his first major public appearance since leaving the White House, one-term ex-president, spotlight-lover and flag-molester Donald Trump has been confirmed as a speaker for this year's Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando.
The annual CPAC Republican mega-gathering is set for next week — Feb. 25-28 — at the Hyatt Regency Orlando on International Drive.
This will be the first time CPAC has been held outside the immediate environs of Washington, D.C.
Trump is currently scheduled to speak on Sunday, Feb. 28.
Trump will join fellow conservative luminaries like gun-totin' Colorado congressperson (and Altamonte Springs native) Lauren Boebert, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Rick Scott, Rep. Matt Gaetz, a fresh-from-vacation Sen. Ted Cruz and a host of other right-leaning politicians and media figures.
Also: actor Jon Voight, shilling his new anti-choice movie.
This will not be Trump's first CPAC rodeo. He's been making appearances since 2011, with the highlight so far being his two-plus hour speech and PDA session with an onstage American flag at CPAC 2020.A source told CNN on Saturday that Trump will speak about "the future of the Republican Party and the conservative movement," but we all know he'll immediately veer off-script 45 seconds in and run through a laundry list of personal grievances instead. Not that his audience will mind a bit.
Though a recent Politico article painted a picture of a conference in disarray, it would appear that the CPAC ship has righted itself. The former event theme of "America vs. Socialism" has even been jettisoned for the more au courant "America: Uncanceled."
Tickets for CPAC appear to be pretty much sold out except for the Premium Gold package, going for a mere $7,500.
This article first appeared at our sister publication Orlando Weekly.
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Subscribe to our newsletter and follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter.