Alt-right influence casts cloud over CPAC
The onetime signature event for conservatives has been riven by charges of celebrity- and profit-seeking.
By ELIANA JOHNSON 02/22/17 05:04 AM EST
Ned Ryun was strolling through the offices of the American Conservative Union two weeks ago when he stumbled on a whiteboard with a draft schedule for the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference. I looked at the board and said, Why do we have Alex Marlow of Breitbart speaking for 30 minutes? said Ryun, an ACU board member, referring to the editor-in-chief of the controversial right-wing news outlet.
It turned out that according to Ryun Marlows name was a placeholder for Milo Yiannopoulos, the former Breitbart editor and professional provocateur who lost both his job and his CPAC speaking slot this week after a video of him appearing to endorse pedophilia was posted online.
We disinvited him over pedophilia, Ryun said. The debate I wanted to have, and which (ACU Chairman Matt) Schlapp didnt want to have, is why are we inviting somebody who calls himself a fellow traveler of the alt-right?
The episode encapsulated the debate thats roiled the Republican Party over the past year, as Donald Trump and his army of nationalist-populist followers eviscerated a field of more traditional Republicans. The controversy is casting a pall over CPAC's kickoff on Thursday, throwing the identity crisis that wracked the conservative movement during the presidential campaign into stark relief once again.
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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/cpac-conservatives-milo-yiannopoulos-235251