AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
The crowd, or lack thereof, at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside of Washington, DC raised eyebrows on Thursday as journalists and pundits across the political spectrum documented the poor turnout.
CPAC’s relevance has come under question in recent years as the event no longer includes a cross-section of the GOP and many of the speakers this year are fringe right-wing media figures like Steve Bannon, Mike Lindell, and conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec.
The conference, which used to draw top elected Republicans and every GOP presidential contender, is only attended by one sitting governor and a handful of members of Congress this year. Vivek Ramaswamy is the only 2024 candidate – other than Trump – who is set to address the conference.
Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union that puts on CPAC, addressed the conference Thursday. Schlapp is currently facing multiple accusations of sexual assault and a $9 million lawsuit from a former male staffer over alleged sexual misconduct.
Raheem Kassam, the editor of the hardright National Pulse, wrote on X, “Was just sent this from CPAC. What an embarrassment.”
“I’m here, and it hasn’t been empty. Lara Trump just said that it’s always darkest before the DON. Standing ovation,” wrote one CPAC attendee in response to Kassam, who replied:
You’re posting a picture from halfway up the room. My image shows the whole room. CPAC used to have 13,000 attendees. Your picture shows several hundred. Thank you for making my point. Enjoy your waste of time.
“CPAC is very sleepy this year. As I was preparing I reached out to people I met here previously, 95 percent of them said they weren’t coming this year,” wrote NBC tech editor Benjamin Goggin.
Goggin also posted a photo of his press pass, which many left-leaning outlets were banned from getting at CPAC this year.
“Credentialed non-propagandist,” Goggin wrote, posting a photo of his pass, adding, “I sort of thought this was just bluster, but have heard from multiple ppl who got rejected for press passes this year.”
The Nation’s Amanda Moore also documented the sparse crowd, posting a video clip and adding, “I remember when they had overflow rooms.”
Moore also posted that her press pass had been revoked, “Guys I am not infiltrating CPAC. I was granted a media badge last year. This year I was given one again, but they took it away last minute and told me to buy a ticket when I checked in yesterday. You all realize that people recognize me right? I can’t go undercover lmao.”
The National Journal’s Zac Weisz added, “Thinner crowd — and fewer stalls — at this year’s CPAC, compared to last year. They also cut off part of the main conference room, so there’s fewer seats. It’s still far from full.”
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