Feb. 27 (UPI) — Vice President Mike Pence headlined the agenda at the Conservative Political Action Conference
touted the policies of the Trump administration on defense, immigration and abortion Thursday during at the 2020 Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.
In urging those at the annual gathering of conservative activists and politicians to back the president for another four years, he also warned that the Democratic Party had been taken over by the “radical left” and were following the “failed policies of socialism.”
“The truth is, in four short years, we’ve made America great again,” he said, ticking off a list of issues supported by conservatives such as the appointments Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, increased defense spending and a tough stance on immigration.
Pence also defended Trump’s actions in “taking out” top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a Jan. 3 airstrike at Baghdad International Airport.
In a preview of likely Republican attacks on current Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. Bernie Sanders and his strong support among young people, Pence called on CPAC attendees to tell the young “the truth about socialism.”
“America will never be a socialist country,” he declared.
Before beginning the highly partisan address, however, the vice president appealed for bipartisanship in battling the coronavirus outbreak, promising the White House would work with Democrats to ensure the health of the nation.
“We’re all in this together, it’s not the time for partisanship,” he said. “We’ll work with both parties. This president will always put health and safety first.”
Trump and Republican lawmakers are also among a long list of speakers for the event, which runs through Saturday in National Harbor, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Trump is scheduled to deliver the closing speech on Saturday. Earlier this week, he hailed the event by tweeting a photograph of his appearance last year, when he embraced an American flag on the speakers’ stage.
“Looking forward to being with all of my friends and supporters,” Trump wrote.
A number of Trump campaign officials spoke on the conference’s opening day Wednesday, including spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, campaign press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, communications director Tim Murtaugh and adviser Mercedes Schlapp.
CPAC 2020 will focus on “protecting” America and combating socialism, and will include a five-part program discussing the efforts to investigate Trump and his associates.
Trump’s former campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page — the subject of FBI surveillance in a case that encouraged Attorney General William Barr to weigh reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court — also appeared Wednesday.
Trump appointed Pence on Wednesday to head the U.S. COVID-19 response with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who’s scheduled to speak at CPAC on Saturday.
Agency heads and members of Trump’s Cabinet will also speak at some point during the four-day event, including Education Secretary Betsy Devos, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Labor Department Secretary Eugene Scalia and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
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