Despite reports claiming Ron DeSantis might not attend CPAC — the annual Conservative Political Action Conference — sources tell Newsmax he has yet to formally decide.
According to the Floridian, citing an unnamed source, DeSantis was invited to attend and speak but has a scheduling conflict with the event, which will be held the first week of March at the Gaylord National Resort just outside Washington, D.C., in Fort Washington, Maryland.
CPAC is the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world, and confirmed speakers this year include former President Donald Trump and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, each of whom has declared their intention to run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis, considered by many a potential 2024 presidential candidate, is not listed.
The Floridian report cited an unnamed Florida-based political operative who said DeSantis "would look weak" if he did not appear at the conference.
A senior source organizing CPAC said Gov. DeSantis has received an invite and will get mega-attention if he attends, but added his office has yet to notify the conference of his plans.
Newsmax has reached out to DeSantis and CPAC for comment.
The previous two years, the convention was held in Orlando, Florida, because DeSantis kept the state open for business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump and DeSantis spoke at the convention both years.
Trump has not been shy lately in criticizing DeSantis' presidential aspirations. In a Truth Social post Sunday, Trump claimed a President DeSantis would cut Social Security and Medicare, and work closely with globalists.
DeSantis has yet to be goaded into a back-and-forth with Trump, declining to comment on the president's criticisms.
Also, Trump is claiming victory because a political consultant with ties to Trump, Christian Ziegler, was named chair of Florida's Republican Party on Saturday. DeSantis, though, did not take it as a loss, congratulating Ziegler in a tweet.
The governor previously endorsed Ziegler's wife, Bridget, a co-founder of the conservative parental rights organization Moms for Liberty, in her race for a spot on the Sarasota County school board.
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