This weekend, Republicans are headed to two extreme cattle calls as they battle each other in the race for the MAGA base. From the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor to the Club for Growth’s retreat in Palm Beach, extreme Republicans are traveling across the country to out-MAGA each other this week. 

CPAC is rolling out the red carpet for extremists, election deniers, and conspiracy theorists like Kari Lake and Marjorie Taylor Greene. This comes just a short year after Greene spoke at a far-right conference organized by a known white nationalist.  

New York Times: “The ruling, after a two-day trial in Phoenix that ended Thursday, follows more than six weeks of claims by Ms. Lake, a Republican, that she was robbed of victory last month — assertions that echoed the false contention that was at the heart of her campaign: that an even larger theft had stolen the 2020 presidential election from Donald J. Trump.”

NBC News: “The firestorm erupted over the weekend when Greene and Gosar spoke at the far-right America First Political Action Conference at a hotel in Orlando, Florida, an event organized by Nicholas Fuentes. Fuentes, a white nationalist activist who gained national prominence after he attended the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as ‘brilliant’ in recent days as he ordered his military to invade Ukraine.”

This year’s CPAC will feature 2024 Republicans and their extreme positions on banning abortion and cutting Social Security and Medicare. 

Washington Post: “His avowed stance, however, is at odds with Trump’s own record as president: Each of his White House budget proposals included cuts to Social Security and Medicare programs.”

Trump: “Nobody has ever done more for right to life than Donald Trump. I put three Supreme Court justices, who all voted, and they got something that they’ve been fighting for 64 years, for many, many years”

Washington Post: “Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador who is planning to announce her own presidential bid this month, also praised Ryan’s Medicare proposal at the time and said lawmakers should examine Medicare and Social Security spending to address federal debt.”

Newsweek: “Haley described herself as ‘very pro-life; and has spent most of her political career fighting for anti-abortion legislation, including signing a law as South Carolina governor in 2016 banning the procedure in most circumstances after 19 weeks of pregnancy unless the mother’s life is at risk.”

Washington Post: “Other potential entrants in the Republican primary, such as former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem, also voted for Ryan’s budget when they were in Congress.’

Associated Press: “U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo said he believes abortions should be allowed only when necessary to save the life of the mother, while his Democratic challenger Robert Tillman vows to back abortion rights. Pompeo, who was swept into office in the November 2010 conservative tide that took the House, told The Associated Press that he would not support any other exception that would permit abortions, even in cases where the mother had been raped.”

Not to be outdone, this weekend’s Club for Growth donor retreat will feature a long list of 2024 GOP hopefuls who have parroted the Club’s long-held agenda of supporting cuts to Social Security and Medicare and banning abortion.

Heartland Signal: “Massive GOP backer Club for Growth supported Rick Scott’s plan to recategorize Social Security as discretionary spending”

Semafor: “Mike Pence isn’t running from his old fiscal conservatism. Instead, he’s seemingly leaning into it by talking about privatizing Social Security, an idea the party largely abandoned after a politically damaging push in 2005.”

Jezebel: “Former Vice President and rumored 2024 presidential contender Mike Pence said ‘we need to’ ban abortion pills in audio obtained by Jezebel. The comments came during a book signing event on Monday in Houston, Texas.”

Yahoo: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely considered to be Trump’s chief competitor for the nomination at the moment — if he decides to get in the race — regularly supported increasing the retirement age for Social Security when he was in Congress.”

Florida Politics: “Gov. DeSantis ‘ready to sign’ abortion ‘heartbeat bill’”

Washington Post: “Other potential entrants in the Republican primary, such as former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem, also voted for Ryan’s budget when they were in Congress.”