Former CPAC Chair Minces No Words Slamming What The Event, GOP Have Now Become

A former chair of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday slammed what the event has now become, suggesting former President Ronald Reagan would not get elected by those in attendance at this years gathering.

Mickey Edwards who led the American Conservative Union , which organizes the event, for five years until 1983 ripped Republicans attending this years CPAC in Orlando for their devotion to former President Donald Trump .

In an interview with CNN s Erin Burnett , Edwards likened the GOP to a cult whose members are living in an alternate reality.

Edwards served as a GOP representative for Oklahoma for 16 years until 1993 but quit the GOP in January following the deadly U.S. Capitol riot. The violence was perpetrated by a violent mob of Trump supporters whod been whipped up by the then-presidents lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

The Republican party really no longer stands for any kind of principles, conservative or otherwise, Edwards told Burnett on Friday.

The party seems now to be completely following the lead of one man wherever he goes, which is the definition of a cult, he continued. Now all that matters is, Trump is for this, were for this. And that includes denying truth, denying fact, denying reality. Its such a disconnect from whats really happened in the world.

Edwards said Republicans speaking at this years CPAC are living in an alternate reality in which facts dont matter, the Constitution doesnt matter.

He also minced no words when commenting on current ACU chair Matt Schlapp, who has bought into Trumps mass voter fraud lie .

He doesnt have the job that I used to have because when I was head of CPAC, it was a group that was based on conservative principles, said Edwards. We were strong supporters of the Constitution. We believed in free elections. We believed in democracy. These people dont believe in any of those things.

You know, theyre no different than the people who flock to other totalitarian leaders in other countries, he added. Theyre no different than they are in Hungary, theyre no different than they used to be Germany. Whatever their great leader says, they do, and theres no underpinning of fact, theres no underpinning or concern about the norms of free democracy.

Edwards concluded that the CPAC of the Trump era is not at all the same organization I led.

Ronald Reagan could not get elected to anything by the people who were at that CPAC conference this year.

Watch the full interview here:

The people at CPAC are living in an alternate reality in which facts dont matter, the Constitution doesnt matter. They have no principle except whatever their leader says.

Mickey Edwards, ex-CPAC chair, who left the GOP after the Capitol riot, says the Party is now a cult. pic.twitter.com/4Ebgkp2GLS

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The people at CPAC are living in an alternate reality in which facts dont matter, the Constitution doesnt matter. They have no principle except whatever their leader says.

Mickey Edwards, ex-CPAC chair, who left the GOP after the Capitol riot, says the Party is now a cult. pic.twitter.com/4Ebgkp2GLS
OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) February 27, 2021