To take the temperature of the Trump camp, nothing like the Conservative Political Action Conference, one of the most fiercely conservative Republican gatherings, which brought together thousands of people last weekend in Dallas, Texas.

We’ve been treated to fierce criticism from the Biden administration, praise for Donald Trump, endless speeches about a “stolen” presidential election, and rants against vaccination.

“Everything was going so well until this rigged election!” Exclaimed the former president, while the conquered assembly shouted “Four more years! ( Four more years !) ”.

Of the 27 parliamentarians present at the rally, 24 voted against the certification of the results of the presidential election last November, which Joe Biden emerged victorious.

The more moderate caciques of the Republican Party, for example Senator Mitt Romney, presidential candidate of 2012, carefully avoided this rally which is now completely committed to the cause of Donald Trump as well as to other rising stars of the right. American, such as Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

A little over a year before the midterms ( midterm elections), which will prove to be decisive for a Biden administration with a very fragile parliamentary majority, the most virulent wing of the party nevertheless often seems to set the tone.

By launching, for example, a vast debate on certain school teachings on racism or on cancel culture , which would consist in ostracizing people whose opinions would be considered unacceptable, or, according to its detractors, to rewrite events or review works of art in the light of only progressive ideas.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, meanwhile, is working to undermine a parliamentary commission set up by the Democrats to investigate the Jan.6 assault on Capitol Hill by a crowd of supporters of the ‘former president.

And so far he refrains from any call to order, even after the most outrageous outings. We can think of that of the elected Republican Lauren Boebert, who accuses the Biden administration of wanting to send “syringe Nazis” to promote vaccination in her state of Colorado.

“Eighteen months of chaos”

Many Republicans have little intention of playing the traditional game of parliamentary opposition in Washington, let alone getting into compromises with Democrats.

“Another 18 months of chaos and blockage, that’s what we want”, declares an elected Republican, Chip Roy, in a video recently released by the press and which seems to have been recorded without his knowledge.

And beware of those who do not swear allegiance to the former president.

In Ohio, one of the Republican contenders for the post of senator, JD Vance – author of a bestseller on America in the grip of deindustrialisation, having inspired a Netflix production ( An American ode ) -, did it well. including.

The former president “is the leader of this movement,” the politician, once a critic of the Republican billionaire , told Time magazine . “I just have to swallow my pride and support him.”

Dissenting voices like that of Adam Kinzinger are increasingly rare, or less and less audible.

“Either you are a zombie of the MAGA model of thought (” Make America Great Again “, the flagship slogan of Donald Trump, Editor’s note) … or you stand up and you tell the truth to your voters,” said this elected Republican , who voted in January in favor of impeachment proceedings against the former president.

Note that Trump recorded a very good score of 70% on Sunday after a survey of ultraconservatives who met in Dallas, to find out who were their favorites in the 2024 presidential election.