Kimberly Guilfoyle met by half empty auditorium at CPAC

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the conservative media personality and fiance of Donald Trump Jr, was met by a sparsely occupied auditorium for her CPAC speech.

The former Fox News anchor was met by a swathe of empty seats as she appeared at the right-wing political conference in suburban Washington DC on Friday.

Ms Guilfoyle’s strident remarks were delivered to a crowd that filled perhaps 25 per cent of the seats set out in the cavernous ballroom, a full quarter of which was blocked off by an area set aside for the press and a movable wall which hid an unused portion of the room.

In years past, the entirety of the ballroom was taken up by multiple tiers of seating reserved for attendees based on the amount they’d paid for their ticket to the annual confab.

The Conservative Political Action Conference is a three-day event being held at Maryland’s National Harbor venue this week, and at which Donald Trump is expected to give a speech on Saturday.

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is set to join Mr Trump by also giving a speech on Saturday, and other right-wing figures such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz have also addressed the conference.

Mr Bolsonaro, who has been in Florida for the past two months, is facing investigations in his home country after his supporters rioted following his election defeat. Mr Trump endorsed Mr Bolsonaro’s attempt to remain in power in Brazil, only for him to be defeated by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

But CPAC as a whole has been skipped by a string of high-profile Republicans.

Potential Trump challenger Ron DeSantis, as well as former vice president Mike Pence, have both skipped CPAC, and instead will attend a closed-door donor Club For Growth event in Florida.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, as well as RNC chair Ronna McDaniel are also missing the event.

CPAC is taking place amid allegations made against its chairman Matt Schlapp.

He has been accused by an anonymous male aide with Herschel Walker’s 2022 senate campaign in Georgia of making unwanted sexual advances towards him.

Mr Schlapp has strongly denied the claim and said he is the subject of a smear campaign.

Andrew Feinberg contributed reporting.