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1A, Live From CPAC 2020

Supporters cheer for U.S. President Donald Trump during CPAC 2019 on March 02, 2019 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Supporters cheer for U.S. President Donald Trump during CPAC 2019 on March 02, 2019 in National Harbor, Maryland.

We’re live from the Conservative Political Action Conference. What’s on the agenda? Who sets the agenda? Who isn’t at the table? We’ll hear from attendees and speakers about the issues conservatives at CPAC are focusing on ahead of the 2020 elections.

But we start by talking about Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. He’s the clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president. His success has forced the concept of Democratic socialism to the front of the national conversation.

On the right, Sanders’ success has elicited both terror and glee. Some pundits and analysts call the Vermont senator’s ideas fundamentally un-American. Other conservatives are cheering Sanders’ success, believing him to be an easy opponent for the incumbent president.

Earlier this week, a Tea Party organizer told us that she was organizing conservative voters in South Carolina to vote for Senator Sanders in the state’s open primary. She thinks Sanders will be the easiest for President Trump to defeat as he campaigns for reelection.

What’s behind the resistance to Sanders?

Then, we zoom out, and examine how the president has changed the state of conservative politics. How has the Republican party changed? Which conservatives are welcomed at CPAC and who is not, and why?

We also hear from former presidential advisor K.T. McFarlane on President Trump’s national security policy. McFarlane was once in the running to be the U.S. ambassador to Singapore, but her confirmation was held up due to her role as a deputy to former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

And we wrap up this special coverage by talking with Kathy Barnette, author of “Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: Being Black and Conservative in America.”

We’re live for two hours from Radio Row at CPAC. What do you want to know? Send us your questions.

Copyright 2020 WAMU 88.5

Haili Blassingame, Emmanuel Johnson