Highlights: Donald Trump delivers remarks at CPAC

Former President Donald Trump was greeted by a large number of supporters as his motorcade made its way to CPAC in Orlando:

Former President Trump arrived at @CPAC (more than 45 minutes late) and supporters greeted him along the route in Orlando. pic.twitter.com/TtKctoKgFj

— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) February 28, 2021

Yes, he was a little late by the audience did not seem to mind at all:

?? — VIDEO: Former President Donald Trump takes the stage at @CPAC pic.twitter.com/WZxKK9SEkj

— Belaaz (@TheBelaaz) February 28, 2021

Highlights from the speech:

Trump: "Hello CPAC, do you miss me yet? Do you miss me?"

— Latika M Bourke (@latikambourke) February 28, 2021

Trump tells the crowd the journey “is far from being over”

— Alistair Bunkall (@AliBunkallSKY) February 28, 2021

"Never been a journey so successful," starts Trump, nod to his Jan. 6 "journey" message — "just getting started… in the end we will win."

— Jeff Sharlet (@JeffSharlet) February 28, 2021

On Rush Limbaugh:

TRUMP: Paying his respect to Rush Limbaugh. Saying, "Rush is watching from heaven."

— @amuse (@amuse) February 28, 2021

He also confirmed he will not be starting a new party:

“We’re not starting new parties,” Trump says here at CPAC. “I am not starting a new party. That was fake news, fake news, no. Wouldn’t that be brilliant? Let’s divide our vote,” he says sarcastically.

— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) February 28, 2021

On Joe Biden (with an emphasis on immigration):

Trump, reading from the prompter: "Joe Biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history," Trump said.

He added: "That's true."

— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) February 28, 2021

“In just one short month, we have gone from #AmericaFirst to #AmericaLast.”

– President Donald J. Trump

— Amy Kremer (@AmyKremer) February 28, 2021

TRUMP: In one month Biden took America from first to the last place. Trump left office with the most secure border in history. Biden opened it up and children are suffering.

— @amuse (@amuse) February 28, 2021

“The Biden Administration has put the vile coyotes back into business.”

– President Donald J. Trump

— Amy Kremer (@AmyKremer) February 28, 2021

Early in his speech, Trump is leaning into the border to attack Biden — telling the crowd that a wave of migrants is coming.

"They are coming at levels you haven't even seen yet," he said.

— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) February 28, 2021

Trump says he "handed the new administration" a "modern-day medical miracle" with coronavirus vaccines.

"I pushed the FDA like they have never been pushed before," he said. "I didn't like them at all, but once we got it done, I said: `I now love you very much.'"

— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) February 28, 2021

Trump on vaccines:

“I pushed the FDA like they have never been pushed before … They have never been pushed like I pushed them. I didn't like them at all, but once we got it done, I said ‘I now love you very much.’”

— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) February 28, 2021

"The distribution is moving along according to OUR plan," Trump says about the Biden vaccine plan.

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) February 28, 2021

On President Biden and negotiations:

Trump on Workd Health Organization “we pay $500 million and China pays $39 ion”. “Why did they go back in for $500 million?”

— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) February 28, 2021

Trump comparing WHO membership to the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord

— Neil Vigdor (@gettinviggy) February 28, 2021

Trump railing about Biden rejoining Paris climate accord, WHO etc. All of which Biden said he would do before the election…

— Latika M Bourke (@latikambourke) February 28, 2021

On Energy:

"He cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline… 42,000 jobs." "That was not a topic of conversation." #trump #cpac

— Jeremy Kappell (@JeremyKappell) February 28, 2021

"If the democrats get their way we will go from Energy Dominance to Energy Disaster." #trump #cpac

— Jeremy Kappell (@JeremyKappell) February 28, 2021

Trump still has a thing about windmills: "It kills the birds," he tells CPAC.

— Steve Holland (@steveholland1) February 28, 2021

Back on Windmills:

"We could kid, but I wasn't actually kidding. It's such an expensive form of energy. It's so bad for the environment. It kills the birds, it destroys the landscapes," Trump says at #CPAC

— Nikki Schwab (@NikkiSchwab) February 28, 2021

On women in sports:

'We must protect the integrity of women sports"
~President Donald J. Trump#CPAC2021

— Diamond and Silk® (@DiamondandSilk) February 28, 2021

On China:

I couldn’t agree more with President Trump – we must hold the Communist Chinese regime accountable. #CPAC2021

— Chuck Fleischmann (@chuck4congress) February 28, 2021

On the future of the GOP:

“The party of love.” -Donald J Trump #Trump2024

— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) February 28, 2021

Trump: “[The Republican Party] is becoming the party of love.” #CPAC2021

— hannah gais (@hannahgais) February 28, 2021

“The Republican Party is becoming a party of love. Just look outside.” — President Trump at #CPAC2021

— Kelly Jane Torrance (@KJTorrance) February 28, 2021

Defining Trumpism:

Donald Trump is now defining "Trumpism", the crux is:
– Good trade deals
– Second amendment protection
– Law and order
– Strong military
– Tough at the border

— Charles Croucher (@ccroucher9) February 28, 2021

Back to the culture war themes:

"We honor George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and all national heroes and, of course, we respect our great American flag," says Trump.

— Nikki Schwab (@NikkiSchwab) February 28, 2021

Trump: “Am I a politician? I don’t know.”

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) February 28, 2021

Crowd goes wild as Trump says "We reject cancel culture" #CPAC2021

— Kira (@RealKiraDavis) February 28, 2021

“We are committed to defending innocent life“
“We reject left-wing lunacy; we reject cancel culture“
“ The Constitution means exactly what it says, as written.“

-Pres Trump#CPAC2021 #MAGA

— Fr. Frank Pavone (@frfrankpavone) February 28, 2021

On the 2020 election:

"This election was rigged and the Supreme Court, and other courts, didn't want to do anything about it." Trump falsely claims again that "illegal aliens and dead people voted." He's re-litigating his election grievances

— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) February 28, 2021

"tens of millions" of ballots, says Trump, "illegal aliens and dead people… This election was rigged." This isn't the beginning of his '24 campaign, this is a continuation of his coup attempt. This speech is an open attack on democracy.

— Jeff Sharlet (@JeffSharlet) February 28, 2021

President Trump speaking about the urgent need for "fair, honest and secure elections"

— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) February 28, 2021

“This election was RIGGED!”- Donald J Trump #youwon

— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) February 28, 2021

"Republicans should be the party of honest elections"
– Donald Trump

— Charles Croucher (@ccroucher9) February 28, 2021

"We need election integrity and election reform immediately" —Trump calls for more restrictions to keep nonwhite people from voting.

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) February 28, 2021

Crowd now chanting "you won"

Trump replies, "we did"

Claiming the Supreme Court "didn't have the courage to act", and the election should have gone through state legislatures. Just like the constitution says it shouldn't.

— Tom Harwood (@tomhfh) February 28, 2021

“They didn’t have the guts to do what should be done.”

– President Trump on SCOTUS

— Amy Kremer (@AmyKremer) February 28, 2021

On election reform:

President Trump calling for massive election reform.

— Dave Bondy (@DaveBondyTV) February 28, 2021

We need one Election Day. Not 45! -President Trump. AMEN!

— James T Harris (@JamesTHarris) February 28, 2021

Trump: "We need voter ID. We need voter ID. We need voter ID."

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 28, 2021

“We must eliminate mass, corrupt mail-in voting. We must have voter ID. They know that. It’s a con job.” – Donald Trump #CPAC2021

— Chris Stigall (@ChrisStigall) February 28, 2021

Trump talking about changing election laws without going through state legislatures, as required. Crowd shouts “you won.” Election integrity remains top issue on the right, despite media/left’s attempts to pretend it’s not.

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) February 28, 2021

Donald Trump: "There should be a 100% requirement to verify the citizenship of every person who votes.

And there must be a chain of custody protection for every ballot." pic.twitter.com/EXvYxGKOYa

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 28, 2021

On big tech:

TRUMP: Break up Big Tech

— Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) February 28, 2021

"Twitter should be punished with major sanctions whenever they silence conservative voices," Trump.

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) February 28, 2021

"Twitter, Google and Facebook..should be punished with major sanctions whenever they silence conservative voices," demands Trump.

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) February 28, 2021

And he went OFF on Republicans who’ve spoken out against him and/or voted for his impeachment:

https://twitter.com/JeremyKappell/status/1366163566030692357

Trump just named off the members of Congress who voted to impeach him.

— Beth Baumann (@eb454) February 28, 2021

“The RINOs will destroy the Republican Party” -President Donald J. Trump

— Madison Gesiotto Gilbert (@madisongesiotto) February 28, 2021

Trump at #CPAC2021 lists the names of all 10 House Republicans that voted for his impeachment “and of course the warmongering— a person who loves to see our troops fighting, Liz Cheney.”

“Get rid of them all.”

— aaron navarro (@aaronlarnavarro) February 28, 2021

Well into the second hour of his CPAC speech, Trump finally hits "the war-monger, a person that loves seeing our troops fighting," Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.

"Hopefully they'll get rid of her with the next election," he says.

— Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) February 28, 2021

President Trump putting specific Republican congressmen and women in office on notice. He called them by name. All of them.

This is bloody epic.

— Kambree (@KamVTV) February 28, 2021

"And that's why I am announcing that I will be actively working to elect strong, tough and smart Republican leaders," adds Trump, calling his endorsement "the most powerful asset in politics."

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) February 28, 2021

The crowd booed at the mention of Mitch McConnell:

Trump mentions Mitch McConnell and gets boos in the hall

— Alan Fisher (@AlanFisher) February 28, 2021

Audience boo's Trump's mention of Mitch McConnell

— Emily Wilkins (@emrwilkins) February 28, 2021

But he was pretty diplomatic, actually:

Trump is being incredibly diplomatic with Mitch McConnell and refuses to condemn him. "We got a Republican elected," adding that we'll need him to take on the Democrats in pushing legislation forward.

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 28, 2021

On the power of his endorsement:

Trump says because of his campaigning they had huge gains in the house. A reminder Trump lost the House, the Senate and the White House

— Alan Fisher (@AlanFisher) February 28, 2021

The GOP won 26 of 26 tossup races in the House!

America is behind the Trump agenda today as much as ever!

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) February 28, 2021

ahahahaha Trump says the *only way* to elect Republicans is through his PAC

— Max Steele (@maxasteele) February 28, 2021

On the 2020 election (again):

“18 of 19 bell-weather counties that have predicted every election for decades went for Trump.” – Donald Trump #CPAC2021

— Chris Stigall (@ChrisStigall) February 28, 2021

Even in states that we think of as more liberal, like North Carolina and Texas, Trump got 2/3 of the white vote, which is significantly better than he did with white voters in deep-red states like Montana, Ohio, and Indiana.

— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) February 28, 2021

“No President has ever lost an election after carrying Ohio, Florida and Iowa” – Trump

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) February 28, 2021

And he ended with another tease on 2024:

TRUMP: We will first take back the House and then a Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House. I wonder who that will be!

— Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) February 28, 2021

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Editor’s note: Additional tweets have been added to this post.