Bannon at CPAC: Trump's Goal Is 'Deconstruction'

He says Trump wants to dismantle tax, regulation, and trade systems
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 23, 2017 3:59 PM CST
Bannon at CPAC: Trump's Goal Is 'Deconstruction'
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, right, hugs White House strategist Stephen Bannon as they are introduced to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Steve Bannon made his first public appearance since Donald Trump became president Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, the Washington Post reports. The president's chief strategist said Trump's goal is the "deconstruction of the administrative state," meaning dismantling systems of taxation, regulation, and trade. Bannon said Trump picked his Cabinet nominees with that deconstruction in mind. Here's what else is making headlines at CPAC:

  • Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who spoke alongside Bannon, says they aren't rivals, as characterized by the media. Instead he says they work alongside each other and share a connection through Trump, Politico reports.
  • White nationalist Richard Spencer was kicked out of CPAC after being spotted in the lobby of the hotel where it's taking place. "His views are repugnant and have absolutely nothing to do with conservatism," a CPAC spokesperson tells NPR.
  • The Hill reports Bannon also reserved some of his time to bash reporters and the media, who he repeatedly called the "opposition party." He warned that every day will be a fight against the "corporatist, globalist media."
  • Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Cruz predicted—without explanation—that Trump will have a second Supreme Court seat to fill by the summer, Time reports. He also called the Democratic base "bat crap crazy."
  • Speaking of Cruz, a lot has changed since last year's CPAC, where he was the headliner and Trump canceled his speech, according to US News. Kellyanne Conway, who was working for Cruz this time last year, says CPAC is now "TPAC," in reference to Trump.
  • Despite earlier reports that she clashed with the attorney general and Trump on protecting the bathroom rights of transgender students, at CPAC Betsy DeVos said she supported the removal of Obama's guidelines, calling them "overreach," the Huffington Post reports.
  • Finally, Yahoo News has a photo gallery from CPAC.
(More Conservative Political Action Conference stories.)

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