Trump to speak to CPAC next Sunday, but Pence turned down the invitation

Trump to speak to CPAC next Sunday, but Pence turned down the invitation

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One source said organizers are still hoping to change Pence’s plan to attend, while another source says Pence plans to stay under the radar for the next six months. Politico first reported that Pence turned down the invitation.

The divergence between the two former leaders, which comes as the GOP faces its future in the aftermath of the Trump presidency, follows tensions between Trump and Pence over the January 6 riots at the US Capitol and the role of Pence which confirms the outcome of the election. for President Joe Biden.

“We accept that Joe Biden is the duly elected President of the United States,” Pence former chief of staff Marc Short told CNWS ‘Pamela Brown on Newsroom on Saturday night, despite Pence playing a role in upholding unfounded theories about election fraud that Trump has repeatedly pushed forward. of the attack on the Capitol.

Unlike Trump, Pence attended Biden’s inauguration in Washington, DC last month – after skipping Trump’s farewell ceremony.

Short said on Saturday that Trump and Pence were “leaving kindly” and that they had spoken since.

The source, who is familiar with Trump’s plans to attend CPAC, who is also known for the former president’s speech, told CNN on Saturday that “he will talk about the future of the Republican Party and the Conservative movement.”

“Also look at the 45th president to tackle President Biden’s disastrous amnesty and border policy,” the source added.

The speech would mark Trump’s first public appearance since leaving the White House last month and come as senior Republicans are divided over how to treat the former president, while his loyalists recently visited him in Florida.

One of Trump’s campaign managers, Brad Parscale, met with the former president at his club in Mar-a-Lago for a lengthy meeting this week, according to a well-known source. Utah Senator Mike Lee is holding a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night, according to another well-known source, a possible sign of more visits.

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Republican no. 2, Trump met privately in Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, CNN reported, a day before Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell promised never to do so.

The simmering feud between Trump and McConnell has intensified over the past few days, raising questions about whether the two can ever work together for the future of the IDP.

Trump went after McConnell in a lengthy statement released Tuesday night after McConnell sharply criticized the former president from the Senate floor last Saturday and in an open Monday in the Wall Street Journal, despite appearing in his second indictment. Trump acquitted.
In his Tuesday statement, Trump promised to endorse Senate primary candidates who support his worldview – something that could lead to a clash with McConnell’s preferred candidates, as the seven-time senator pushes Republicans who he says are the have best chance of winning next week. year’s mid-term elections.
The tension underscores the gap between the best Republicans over how to navigate the party to Trump. Unlike McConnell, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy traveled to South Florida after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to meet with Trump and later declare unity with him to try to take back the House in 2022.

But McCarthy is leading a conference where a majority of members strongly support Trump – unlike the Republicans of the Senate, who are divided over the former president and where some top leaders are eager to pass him by and instead focus on leading the party. unite around ideas, not a person.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Dana Bash, Kaitlan Collins and Manu Raju contributed to this report.

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