Old-school Republicans were thin on the ground in Maryland, where the conservatives gathered proved they’re all Trumpians now

The invasion of the body snatchers is complete. Donald Trump has taken over the conservative movement and bent it to his will.

Trump returns to usual style at CPAC with boastful and divisive speech Read more

“Do you remember I started running and people would say, ‘Are you sure he’s a conservative?’” an exultant US president asked the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday.

“I think now we’ve proved that I’m a conservative, right?”

Or perhaps more accurately, the conservatives gathered in the cavernous ballroom proved they are all Trumpians now. There were “Make America Great Again” caps, raucous chants of “Lock her up!” and “Build that wall!” and loud boos for the demons of the left. Old-school Republicans were thin on the ground, usurped by a crowd that included young and sometimes rowdy students.

How much has changed in two years of CPAC, the biggest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives, a Woodstock of the right. In 2016, with the presidential election on fire, Trump pulled out to avoid a potentially humiliating walkout. CPAC’s official Twitter account posted: “Very disappointed @realDonaldTrump has decided at the last minute to drop out of #CPAC – his choice sends a clear message to conservatives.”

But the billionaire businessman and reality TV celebrity went on to win the Republican nomination and then the presidency. CPAC 2017 was effectively a coronation, though still with a strong hint of danger and uncertainty in the air. The white supremacist Richard Spencer turned up outside the main auditorium and had to be ejected. Another white supremacist – in some eyes at least – Steve Bannon spoke from the stage.

This week, by contrast, the National Harbor in Maryland was relatively sedate and low key, as if Trumpism is a sweater that was at first ill-fitting but now hugs CPAC quite comfortably.

The spotlight was dominated a succession of administration members answering toothless questions. Speakers included Eric Trump (“The media of this country does not understand the tone of this country”); rightwing populists Marion Maréchal-Le Pen (“I want America first for the American people, I want Britain first for the British people and I want France first for the French people”); and Nigel Farage (“I thought Trump’d be good but I’ve got to tell you, he’s exceeded all expectations”).

There was also the former White House adviser and conspiracy theorist Sebastian Gorka, who roamed the corridors basking in attention when not shoving a reporter.

On Thursday, Wayne LaPierre, the head of the National Rifle Association, sought to reject post-Parkland demands for gun control with a speech couched in Trumpian language that savaged elites, the media, anti-fascist protesters, Hollywood, George Soros and the FBI.

That night, Sean Hannity hosted his Fox News show live from the conference stage, hurling American footballs into the boisterous crowd during breaks. When panelist Geraldo Rivera suggested upping the age limit on gun buyers, he was angrily booed.

The CPAC hub, a collection of merchandise booths hosted by thinktanks, campus groups, political action committees and self-publishers, had also succumbed to the fever swamps of the right. The Art of the Deal and The Faith of Donald J Trump were among the books on sale. One stall belonged to Gregory Wrightstone’s Inconvenient Facts: The science that Al Gore doesn’t want you to know. Buyers of the book were given a free “I HEART CO2” button.

Shiva Ayyadurai, challenging Elizabeth Warren for her Massachusetts Senate seat, was distributing a flyer that mocked Warren’s claims to American Indian heritage with a doctored photo of her wearing a feather headdress and the slogan: “Only a real Indian can defeat the fake Indian.”

A woman in prison stripes, wearing a cardboard photo of Hillary Clinton over her face, posed for a photo with Ben Shapiro, a conservative pundit.

Play Video 0:36 I try like hell to hide that bald spot, says Donald Trump – video

Shapiro was one of the few contrary voices in a week of idolatry and cult of personality. He opined that Trump deserved an A- for policy but an F for tone, telling the conference: “When President Trump complains that everything negative anyone has ever said about him isn’t true, or when President Trump says he had the biggest inauguration crowd in history, or when the president says there were good people marching in Charlottesville, that is not him waging an effective war against PC. It is nonsense, it is immoral, and it actually helps those who push PC.”

These words of heresy attracted some applause, although at least one Trump supporter could be seen giving a thumbs down. But Shapiro did praise Trump’s conservative actions and deliver a reminder.

“Most of all, President Trump brought us one really fantastic thing: Hillary Clinton is not, and will never be, president of the United States.”

That, for everyone who might have experienced a flicker of self-doubt, remains an unimpeachable argument.