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Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at next week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, a source with direct knowledge tells Axios on Saturday.
It will mark the first public appearance by the former president since leaving office a month ago. Among the topics of Trump’s speech will include a direct attack of President Biden’s immigration plan and his vision of the GOP going forward.
Trump emerges from exile after inciting the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, along with being indicted by GOP members in his second Senate impeachment trial.
Without access to social media sites, the two-time impeached president has been issuing statements via the office of the 45th President of the United States of America. Although, Trump is eyeing a return to social media some point in the near future, according to NBC’s Kristen Welker who appeared on Meet the Press Sunday.
As for former Vice President Mike Pence, he declined an invitation to speak at CPAC when learning Trump and his allies were scheduled to be there. Matt Schlapp, the organizer of CPAC, confirmed in an interview with USA Today that Pence said no. The news was reported earlier by Politico.
Pence’s absence signals a divide in the GOP after a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol that targeted the then-vice president and other members of congress. The party is also torn between traditional conservatives politics and the MAGA platform adopted by Trump. The former Vice President and others did not appear at the send-off for the former President and his family a month ago. Instead, Pence represented the Trump administration at President Biden’s inauguration.
A source close to Pence told CNN that the former vice president is looking to stay out of the public eye for six months.
The CPAC event opens on Thursday in Orlando, Florida.
