CPAC was contacted for comment, and an interview was requested with Bannon.
The conference, billed as the largest conservative gathering in the world, heard from Vice President J. D. Vance on Thursday and is due to be attended by President Donald Trump on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
Elon Musk received a chainsaw from Argentina’s President Javier Milei at the CPAC conference outside Washington DC.Credit: AP
A multitude of cabinet members, prominent Republicans and senior White House officials have also appeared, including Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Attorney-General Pam Bondi, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.
Far-right and alternative media figures also figure heavily on the program, such as My Pillow founder and conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell, YouTuber Benny Johnson and political activist Jack Posobiec.
Bannon, an influential figure in Trump’s first term, spent four months in jail last year for defying a subpoena from a congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol.
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In a podium-thumping speech, Bannon repeated calls for Trump to unconstitutionally run for a third term as president in 2028.
“We ain’t worried about 2028,” he said. “The future of America is MAGA, okay? And the future of MAGA is Donald J. Trump. We want Trump in ’28. A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in a nation’s history.”
Musk also spoke at the conference, appearing on stage in dark sunglasses, “Dark MAGA” cap and gold bling, and brandishing a chainsaw gifted to him by Argentinian President Javier Milei.
The chainsaw was a reference to the blitzkrieg of cuts being made to government agencies by Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency razor gang, which has been scorned by Democrats, and is starting to concern some Republican Trump backers.
Musk claimed taxpayer money was being used to prop up left-wing media outlets and “anti-American” non-government organisations. “I’m not sure how much of the left is even real,” he said.
However, Musk’s claim that the government is funding media companies is based on money spent on news subscriptions, not donations or “funding”.
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