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PHOENIX (AP) — As Washington heaved over the possibility of a partial government shutdown, leading far-right figures gathered with thousands of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters and, for the most part, gloried in splintering the president-elect’s party.
Speakers and attendees at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2024 hailed Trump and billionaire Elon Musk for initially scuttling a bipartisan agreement to keep government open. They jeered House Speaker Mike Johnson and his willingness to engage with Democrats, disregarding Johnson's close alliance with Trump and frequent appearances at his side.
“The political class is infected with a malignant cancer. The cancer is bipartisanship,” boomed Steve Bannon, the Trump adviser who perhaps more than any other reflects and stokes the president-elect’s pugilistic populism.
“We don’t need partisanship,” Bannon continued, as he called for Johnson’s ouster. “We need hyper-partisanship.”
The president-elect has wide latitude with his core supporters and is in turn responsive to their demands. That dynamic fuels the unpredictability put on display in last week’s budget fight and sets up inevitable future conflicts within Trump’s broadened Republican coalition.
That Trump failed to achieve his central goals — with 38 Republicans voting against a plan backed by Trump and Musk — seemed unimportant to Bannon and others who welcomed Trump to the conference's Sunday finale. The fight itself, and the incoming president being at the center of it, was the point.
“Thank you, God, for sending us Donald Trump,” said Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk as Trump took the stage. Thousands roared and held their cell phones aloft to capture the moment.
Trump's supporters differ on what they want
Interviews with people at AmericaFest and arguments from speakers illustrated that, beyond fealty to Trump, the new right in America is defined philosophically by anti-establishment sentiment, staunchly conservative social mores and vocal declarations of patriotism — not a uniform policy consensus.
“I just want everything Trump said he was going to do,” said Andrew Graves, a 39-year-old former Disney employee who now works as an Arizona organizer for Turning Point. “It doesn’t matter how as long as we get it done.”
Pressed on what “it” is, Graves mentioned “what’s going on in education” and “keeping women out of men’s sports.” He talked about Trump’s signature promises – tariffs on foreign imports, a hardline immigration crackdown – only when prompted.
Jennifer Pacheco, a 20-year-old student from Southern California, said she embraced Turning Point because she likes Kirk’s unapologetic Christianity and believes “we need to have God be more present in this country.”
In Trump, Pacheco sees a transformative figure. “It’s just everything that’s off track, and I think we will see things get fixed,” she said, talking about the economy and cultural values.
When asked, Pacheco said she does sometimes worry about national debt levels. But she said she did not closely follow the week’s maneuvers in Washington and was unfamiliar with Trump’s call to essentially eliminate the nation’s debt ceiling through the entirety of his upcoming term.
Alexander Sjorgen, a 26-year-old from Berks County, Pennsylvania, volunteered a more detailed list of policy priorities: addressing structural deficits, goosing domestic energy production, launching a mass deportation program, curtailing “the transgender rights” agenda, rethinking how involved the U.S. is in international affairs.
“For the most part, we all just want to see the country strong again and feel like its ours again,” he said.
One speaker calls for a ‘revolutionary moment’
That ethos permeated convention halls and meeting rooms awash in Trump paraphernalia – the “Make America Great Again” hats, T-shirts emblazoned with the bloodied candidate after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Among the throngs, there was the occasional fully costumed “Uncle Sam” or Revolutionary War figure.
Top speakers seized on the atmosphere, being greeted as celebrities and drawing roars of approval on everything from demanding confirmation of Trump’s Cabinet picks to imprisoning members of Congress who investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“It feels good to win back our country,” Kirk told the opening assembly. But, he added, “the transformation of the Republican Party is not yet complete.” He threatened primaries against any GOP senator who votes against a Trump nominee, warnings that have already affected Capitol Hill.
Bannon praised the assembled activists as “the vanguard of a revolutionary movement” and compared Trump’s election to Franklin Roosevelt’s 1932 realignment of working-class Americans behind Democrats. Bannon skewered Johnson and other establishment Republicans in “the imperial capital,” his derisive quip for Washington.
“President Trump came back from the political dead,” Bannon said, framing Trump’s sweep of seven battleground states as a landslide. “We have nothing else to discuss. It’s only about the execution of President Trump’s agenda.”
During 75 minutes at the podium on Sunday, Trump ticked through many of his usual pledges and policy ideas. But he did not acknowledge his unsuccessful venture on Capitol Hill last week or continued questions about whether he will try to unseat Johnson. Summing up his intentions, Trump opted for politically fuzzy rhetoric.
“Last month, the American people voted for change,” he said, touting a ”common-sense” agenda and promising a “golden age” for the country.
Kirk, Bannon and other influencers discussed the Trump agenda in more detail than most attendees, sometimes even acknowledging discrepancies and complexity.
Bannon conceded Trump did not get his way on the debt ceiling vote but said he eventually would. But he also insisted that doesn’t mean Trump won’t cut spending. “He’s got a plan. … But you’ve got to line everything up,” he said, spotlighting billionaires Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and their “government efficiency” commission.
Ben Shapiro, another commentator, offered assurances that Trump would rethink tariffs if they “are in fact inflationary.” Further, Shapiro tried to reconcile Trump’s staunch support for U.S. aid to Israel and conservatives’ disdain for foreign aid, including for Ukraine in its war against its invading Russian neighbors. Israel’s fight against Hamas, Shapiro argued, is “existential,” suggesting that Ukraine’s defensive posture is not.
Retired Gen. Michael Flynn, a firebrand forced out of Trump's first White House who Trump has suggested he would bring back once in office, insisted conservatives are not isolationist even as he assailed the Pentagon footprint around the world.
“I’m not anti-war,” Flynn said from the main podium. “I’m anti-stupid war.”
Kirk, meanwhile, tried to frame any differences across Trump’s coalition as reconcilable.
“Maybe you are a parents-rights advocate. Maybe you are here as a Second Amendment enthusiast. … Maybe you are a pastor. Maybe you are a ‘Make America Healthy Again’ advocate,” Kirk said. “Whatever focus group you have, as long we can agree on the big stuff … we need to combine forces and defeat the incumbent regime. Welcome aboard. We are going to make America great again.”
