Liz Truss gives speech to half-empty room at pro-Trump conference in Washington
Liz Truss accused Joe Biden of being “asleep at the wheel” as she spoke to a convention of die-hard Donald Trump supporters in Washington DC.
The failed former Prime Minister flew across the Atlantic yesterday to speak at CPAC, America’s biggest right-wing conference - and all-but endorsed the former President to return to power.
“We have enabled Vladimir Putin by not taking action early enough, when he could have been stopped,” she told a half-empty room. “Instead of projecting strength - we know that dictators only respond to strength - we projected weakness, and that is what is being projected from the White House.”
She added: “Of course, we need a Republican back in the White House. We need it desperately.” Mr Trump is the firm favourite to be the Republican nominee for President - a position that will become even more secure if he defeats rival Nikki Haley in Saturday’s primary election in her home state of South Carolina.
Ms Truss complained her failed premiership had been scuppered by a “backlash” from the media, the corporate world and “also from people that were meant to work for the government.” It comes after she used a column on the Fox News website to the so-called “deep state” for sabotaging her 49-day stint in Downing Street.
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She accused Joe Biden of being "asleep at the wheel" (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)“I’m not saying I'm a perfect person, or I did everything exactly right," she said. "But I faced the most almighty backlash for those conservative policies that I put in place…With that level of antagonism I simply was not able to implement those reforms."
She added: "Conservatives are now operating in a hostile environment, and we essentially need a bigger bazooka in order to be able to govern."
Trump devotee Nigel Farage will address the faithful on Friday, with the former President himself set to headline the conference, giving a speech on Saturday.
Ms Truss is attempting to salvage her reputation across the pond after she was booted out of No10 when she crashed the economy. Ms Truss was forced out after just 49 days after she announced a tax-cutting bonanza, with giveaways for the super-rich.
Hats and t-shirts were on sale (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)The carnage sent the pound tumbling and mortgage rates soaring - as pension funds came close to collapse. She had to U-turn on nearly all her plans and sacked her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, but was still forced out by Tory MPs. She is the shortest-serving PM in British history.
Stateside she was greeted with polite applause from the thin crowd - joining a line-up of speakers railing against “wokeism”, immigration and financial support for Ukraine.
The speaker immediately before Ms Truss was Dr. Eithan Haim, who is under criminal investigation after he used his position at a Texas Children’s hospital to leak private medical records of 20 young people who had received treatment for gender dysphoria. "This problem that these people say they're treating is not based in reality," he told the cheering crowd, defending his leak to a right-wing website as part of his oath to "do no harm".
Trump fans showed up for the conference - many of them in costume (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)And after her was Julie Kelly, who has described the January 6 insurrection as an “inside job” intended to “wage war” on American right-wingers.
In the exhibition hall, downstairs from the auditorium, a raft of right-wing groups, merchants and politicians set up stalls. They include Patriot Mobile, which bills itself as America’s only Christian Conservative Wireless phone network and donates a portion of its revenue to “organisations that uphold conservative values”.
"Woke Tears Water" was on display in one of the booths (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)Attendees could buy Make America Great Again hats in a range of colours, from classic red to pale pink. One version had a Trump-style wig attached to complete the look. The same stall sold T-shirts for $30-40 each - some bearing Mr Trump’s infamous mugshot, others mocked up with a “FNN - Fake News Network” logo.
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And a range of handbags were on sale, including one bejewelled bag in the shape of a Magnum handgun. Also on sale were “MAGA Hammocks”, which the proprietors said “allow you to proudly express your honour and courage.”
Several organisations professed support for those arrested and imprisoned for the January 6th insurrection, with one group, declaring them “political prisoners.”
And one booth promoted “Woke Tears Water” - a novelty drink said to be made “from pure melted snowflake tears”.
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