Volunteers for the right-wing extremist group Look Ahead America spent Sunday morning posting signs at the CPAC Conference promoting an event featuring blowhard exhibitionist Matt Gaetz. It all looked very official except… it wasn’t.
Gaetz – who spoke at CPAC 2021 in February this year and CPAC 2020 in February last year – was not listed as a speaker on any official CPAC schedule for their Texas conference this weekend. In a petulant fit of resentment at CPAC sidelining him, Gaetz evidently decided to retaliate. Together with Allen West, Gaetz organised his own event which he then shoehorned into the CPAC program with the assistance of CPAC sponsor, Look Ahead America.
It didn’t go down well.
As soon as Executive Director Regina Bratton was informed of a rogue event taking place in a different section of the Dallas Hilton Anatole than the rest of the conference, she sought to distance CPAC from the scandal-ridden Gaetz by ordering that all signs and handouts for the speech be confiscated.
The whole debacle kicked off just before noon on Sunday, when security personnel approached a “Look Ahead America” volunteer holding a sign which read, “Matt Gaetz & Allen West Event,” with a large arrow pointing attendees outside of CPAC’s security checkpoint and into a second-floor ballroom at the hotel.
Moments later, “Look Ahead America” organizers attempted to leave the booth area at the conference only to have another one of their signs promoting the event seized.
At first, the executive director of Look Ahead America Matt Braynard brushed off seizure of the signs until he heard CPAC had labelled it an “unsolicited event”. In a furious tweet Braynard responded with “100% lie.” and added,
Braynard’s Look Ahead America has an acrimonious history with CPAC organisers. During CPAC 2021 in February, the LAA org promoted and attended white nationalist Nicholas Fuentes’ far-right event, “America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC),” which was deliberately created as a rival conference. As discussed on Narativ TV‘s July 10 “After Show” Nicholas Fuentes is a dangerous extremist banned by Twitter two days ago. Gaetz is the second congressman to be connected with his white nationalist movement in the last couple of weeks. The other is Paul Gosar who attended a joint fundraiser with Fuentes on June 29.
Both Braynard and Gaetz had jumped on Twitter earlier to promote the CPAC event.
Journalist Zachary Petrizzo noted that, although not on the official schedule, Gaetz was “palling around the conference all weekend long.” When Petrizzo later approached him about CPAC’s claim that it did not recognize his event, Gaetz said, “Well, I spoke at noon,” adding, “there were a lot of people there, I spoke.”
In his usual arrogant style, Gaetz ignored the fact that running his mouth in front of an audience is not automatically deemed official speech.
In his Salon article, Petrizzo also noted,
The dust-up isn’t the first time Gaetz has found himself persona non grata by event organizers recently — earlier this week a hotel in California canceled an event the Congressman was planning with Marge Greene.
“As soon as we found out who the speakers were we immediately canceled it,” the hotel’s manager told the Orange County Register. “We just thought it would be best for our facility to cancel.”
Frankly, it would be better for America if Matt Gaetz was cancelled – and the FBI is working on it. For several months they’ve been investigating Gaetz over allegations he violated federal sex trafficking laws and maintained a sexual relationship with a minor. While those in the know expect an indictment this summer, CPAC’s cold-shouldering of Gaetz may indicate their belief that an arrest is imminent.
The Republicans really do run a cancel culture.
They really do. And they keep on proving that it’s all just projection with them.
I’ve been waiting months for Pizza-Gaetz to be arrested. I’m still waiting. Makes me wonder if anything is actually going to happen to that twat since his daddy might be able to buy him out of this trouble like he did his other f*ck-ups.
Nobody seems to care about the children, those who do just wanna Gaetz them
If Republicans really cared about the children Matt would be behind bars already.
Best way to beat these scumsuckers: 1) hey u 93 million who didn’t vote…GET UP OFF UR ASS; 2) boycott companies that support these traitors; 3) repeat one & two.
You are absolutely correct. the 93 million has to vote and we have to stop the media from stirring the pot. This country and world has had more then enough about all of the Trumps. It’s time for these lazy so-called journalist get off their butts and get some real news. All thee GOP traitors need to face hearing Nuremburg Type hearing and sentenced to prison.
You are absolutely correct. the 93 million has to vote and we have to stop the media from stirring the pot. This country and world has had more then enough about all of the Trumps. It’s time for these lazy so-called journalist get off their butts and get some real news. All thee GOP traitors need to face hearing Nuremburg Type hearing and sentenced to prison.
AND WHY IS ? #UncleTommer #AllenWest palling around w #WhiteNationalist #Fuentes and #TeenSexTrafficker #Gaetz
Allen Bernard West is an American politician and retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel. A member of the Republican Party, West represented Florida’s 22nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013 and served as the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas from 2020 to 2021. Wikipedia