Fredericks in the News: CPAC 2019 How Conservatives Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Trump

While some never-Trumpers remain, and perhaps some have faded away, most have been converted and show the zeal that comes with such conversions.

His supporters now say Republicans need to bend to Mr. Trump’s brand of populist-nationalism or get left in the dust.

“If you’re a never-Trumper, then the spectacle of Trump’s CPAC is going to convince you that your forlorn party of wars, open borders, big donors and Wall Street has finally come to an end,” said radio host John Fredericks, who was Virginia chairman for Mr. Trump’s campaign in 2016. “This is the new CPAC, and this is the new Republican Party, and it’s America First, and we’re never going back.”

CPAC-goers say part of their reticence in those days was based on the president’s past, with proclamations of support for gun control and abortion rights, coupled with a brash businessman’s personality and a scorched-earth approach to politics.

Read the full report from The Washington Times.