Benz, who did not attend the conference, also referred to Trump as his “human conveyor belt” for his role in moving the electoral process forward, saying he intended to label him a “robot”. Trump’s own aides have testified that Benz told the president that taking action to thwart the election was unconstitutional..
Pence’s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Many close to Pence said they believe January 6 will prove the former vice president’s position among Conservative voters, and Trump continues to scold him for refusing to step out of his ceremonial role of overseeing election college numbers.
In an interview earlier this week, Mark Short, Benz’s CEO, said he hoped Benz’s actions would eventually work in his favor. “The curve of history will be skewed towards what he did,” he said.
On Friday afternoon, Trump delivered the keynote address at the Annual Road to Majority Conference of the Coalition of Faith and Freedom, which served as a preview of what the 2024 GOP presidential election field will look like. But Pence – along with other potential presidential rivals – chose not to attend. Apart from Trump, in the early days of the conference, no other speaker mentioned the events of January 6th.
Trump’s 90 – minute speech was a direct denial of the committee’s actions on January 6, which have been broadcast to the public in three dramatic installments so far. His comments – and his attacks on Benz – received the applause of the conservative crowd.
The former president aggressively sought to thwart the planned treason story emerging from the investigation. Trump told the conference he hoped to withdraw the 2020 election to state legislatures, rather than completely reverse it, and experts said the move would violate the Constitution.
Pence was invited to address the conference, but did not choose it, said Ralph Reid, founder of the organization, which is close to both. “If Mike Pence wanted to come and give these people a review, he could have done it,” Reid told reporters Friday afternoon. “I’m not saying he should have done it.”
Reid said Florida Gov. Ron Desantis (R) was also invited but did not attend.
The conference represented the first large gathering of 2024 GOP contestants, giving them the opportunity to begin testing the news with evangelical leaders and activists who are one of the most influential observers in Republican presidential politics.
The attacks on President Biden and the Democrats focused on high inflation, high gas prices and hints of a tumultuous US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Targeting Big Tech and corporate leaders, most people added populist strains to their pitches. And everyone was touched by cultural issues, changes in corona virus ethics, the school curriculum and the gender identity that leftists adopt.
Trump pointed out that he might seek the White House again, at one point thinking about “our next Republican president,” and “I wonder who it will be.” He was suspended after a crowd of about 2,000 applauded him.
“Would anyone like me to run for president?” Trump asked, the crowd whistled, cheered and some began chanting “America.”
But he was not the only one to test the water. Sen addressed the meeting on Friday morning. Tim Scott (SC) walked back and forth across the ballroom stage, predicting that Republicans would win a majority in the House and Senate in November, then raised his hands and added: “Then in two years – I have a dream,” the Rev. Fr. Note by Martin Luther King.
He paused for applause and then described the dream of GOP control in Washington. “We will show the United States how you are recovering after a boxing match,” Scott said.
Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), Another Republican who heads the GOP Senate campaign division, looks at the 2024 run, saying he is optimistic about the GOP’s prospects in November. “The recession is coming,” he said.
Scott also noted his controversial plan to raise federal income taxes for nearly half of Americans.
The plan was widely seen as an initiative in the run-up to the presidential election, and was accepted by Democrats as evidence that the GOP would implement tougher policies on the poor. The Florida senator said, “This is not for the faint of heart.” “It’s going to cause fear in the hearts of some Republicans.”
Reid’s team made a great effort to reach Hispanic faith leaders, bringing in hundreds of them. Some of the first words in the project were in Spanish. “Night of Prayer and Worship” includes two prayers offered in Spanish and translated into English and includes a Cuban band.
The three-day conference is being held in a well-air-conditioned ballroom at the vast Gaylord Aubreyland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville. Vendors set up outside the conference room were selling iodine tablets to protect against the effects of a nuclear fallout ($ 35 for a seven-day distribution) and pro-Trump T-shirts “because Trump told you so.” One booth promotes pregnancy counseling services.
Potential GOP presidential candidates portrayed the Democrats as an almost anti-American force that did not like the country, rather than the opposition. “The Left wants nothing more than a revolution,” UN Ambassador Nicky Haley said during a keynote address Thursday during the Trump administration. “Theirs is the opposite of 1776. They take us backwards.”
Scott went on to say: “In our country the militant left has become the enemy from within.” He paused to allow the audience to absorb his message. “You think it’s so dramatic, don’t you? Calling them enemies from the inside.
Scott suggested that the country needed corporal punishment. “Switch is a southern form of motivation,” he said, explaining how his mother beat him to push him to focus more on school. “Sometimes I look around our country today and think we need a new kind of motivation.”
Representative Jim Jordan (Ohio), who said he hoped Trump would run again, also attacked the theme. “The left does not like the country,” he said. “They don’t like people who create things, grow things and move things.”
Many talked about Ukraine, the UN. Haley told a story about how he violated the protocol by meeting with the Ukrainians before meeting the Russians as ambassador. Using his admiration for Ukrainian fighters, he says it is a comparative shortcoming of the patriotism he feels in the United States.
“I have a confession,” Haley said. “I look at the Ukrainian people and feel that we had that kind of patriotism. It was just us. We had that great American spirit and we need to get it back.
There are additional speakers, including Georgia’s Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who will take the stage on Saturday.
In addition to infuriating Benz, Short, Phil Stephen and former Attorney General William B. Trump was also angry at other former advisers who testified, including Barr, two people who spoke anonymously to discuss private conversations, and focused on the investigation in detail even though some of his advisers tried to downplay his interest.
During his speech on Friday, he accused Trump of not intervening on his behalf. “Bill Barr was scared of certain things. You know what they are,” Trump said.
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