CPAC updates: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene promises bill on gender-affirming care

Friday morning’s CPAC agenda took on the transgender issue in a speech from an unlikely speaker and a powerful panel featuring a “detransitioner.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a far-right member of Congress by pretty much anyone’s standards. At President Joe Biden’s State of the Union, she made news for booing him, breaking any semblance of decorum. Conservatives have come to expect unhinged rants from Greene, much like the one her colleague Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) ended up giving a few minutes later. But Greene didn’t. Instead, she told the crowd about a bill she is going to introduce that would make it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to minors.

The issue of gender fluidity and how to handle it — whether medical transitions are ethical — is a common concern among conservatives and a hot topic culturally right now.

“I’m going to be introducing my bill,” Taylor Greene said, “the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, that will make it a felony to perform anything to do with gender-affirming care.”

It’s unusual and surprising to see Greene pivot from a pro-Trump election speech to one that promoted a family-based policy. For perspective, The Independent called Greene’s CPAC speech “a transphobic rant.”

Greene introduced the bill last Congress with the help of Chloe Cole, a victim of this very thing. Cole detransitioned after taking testosterone, puberty blockers, and receiving a double mastectomy between the ages of 12 and 17 and now speaks out against medical transitions.

Cole appeared on a panel with Riley Gaines, a 12-time All-American swimmer known for swimming on the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s swim team with transgender teammate Lia Thomas. After Thomas tied with Gaines for fifth place in a race last year, Gaines began speaking out about how Thomas’ status as a transgender person stripped the women on her team of their privacy in locker rooms, and ability to win races. Thomas raced with the men’s University of Pennsylvania swim team before he decided to transition to female and swim on the women’s team.

“Everything I had dedicated my entire life to, I was reduced to a photo op,” Gaines said.

Nikki Haley touts strengths, hits back against Democrat’s ‘weakness’ and ‘wokeness’

Nikki Haley has a tough job running in a presidential primary: She has to tout her strengths, tone down her weaknesses, and attack both Republicans running against her and the Democrat party — all at once. During her CPAC speech, Haley juggled this act as well as anyone could, despite the fact that she’s well behind in polls that favor Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to represent the GOP running for president.

“I’m a woman, I’m a minority, and I’m the daughter of immigrants. I’m proof that liberals are wrong about everything they say about America,” Haley said, mentioning one of her greatest strengths.

She went on to attack the sexism she’s experienced from liberals and members of the media. Don Lemon recently said she was “past her prime.” Haley’s response: “Hold my beer.”

Haley hammered the Democratic party for being “weak and woke” and said Biden is giving us “lawlessness.”

“The Democrat party is now a socialist party,” Haley said. “Wokeness is a virus more dangerous than any pandemic, hands down.”

She pivoted to a more positive message toward the end, heralding America’s strengths, saying that since she, a minority, was once governor of South Carolina, “America is not a racist country.”

“America is not past her prime. It’s just that our politicians are past theirs,” Haley said, advocating for different term limits for politicians.

She closed with a rallying cry to fellow conservatives.

“If you’re tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation ... then stand with me. I’m here to ask for your vote,” Haley said. “But I want to ask for something more. I want to inspire the next generation.”

“Lets save our country from weakness and wokeness,” she said in a message that might have been a one-two punch to both her primary contender, Donald Trump, and her other primary contender, the Democratic party as a whole.

While Haley trails well behind Trump and DeSantis in the polls, her speech juggled all the various issues a primary contender must address .Time will tell if conservatives are ready for a female GOP presidential nominee.

A family affair: Conservatism should go beyond nepotism

Friday’s CPAC has so far, featured three members of Donald Trump’s own family and, if the schedule remains firm, will conclude with Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist early in his administration, and Kari Lake, who will headline the popular Ronald Reagan dinner. Lake is a rabid Trump supporter.

With the exception of Lake, none of these people — particularly Trump’s family members — are exceptional speakers. Trump’s son and daughters-in-law know how to parrot back to CPAC audience buzzwords and applause-worthy cliches — but none seem to have a cohesive ideology of conservatism, beyond the idea of patriotism. They are all in support of another Trump presidency and seem to believe the election was stolen from him.

“Your President, President Donald Trump will be here,” Donald Trump Jr., said to cheers.

While Trump Jr. complained about the power of big businesses (he claimed he lost access to banks due to his conservative ideas) Lara Trump, married to Trump’s son Eric, gave a speech that yearned for the days of yore.

“Under Donald Trump’s America, America was great,” Lara said.

Conservatism is an idea, not a person. It’s not about Donald Trump, his kids, or his rabid supporters. Conservatism is better than any politician because it’s a belief system that goes back hundreds of years and will hopefully continue into the future. It’s disappointing to see CPAC lean so far into the direction of supporting Trump that several of their Friday speakers are there due to nepotism.

‘MAGA candidates,’ Trump supporters showcase former president

Friday’s CPAC features more openly pro-Trump supporters than it did the days prior, setting the stage for Trump to speak Saturday evening.

Speakers include Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, both of whom were known as “MAGA candidates,” or far-right members of Congress. Additional speakers include Kimberly Guilfoyle, former senior adviser to former President Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president of The Trump Organization, and Lara Trump, Host of the Right View, just to name a few.

It’s no accident that the lineup Friday includes pro-Trump members of Congress and members of Trump’s family the day before Trump is scheduled to speak. CPAC is clearly, purposefully, showcasing Trump as the next GOP presidential nominee.