Brett Cooper — Why CPAC Was a Total Disaster

So, guys, I thought that the most pathetic thing I saw on social media this weekend was the Barbie Dream Fest that took place in Florida, or maybe I should say attempted to take place, like failed utterly. And then, I saw photos of CPAC. And suddenly, Barbie Dream Fest did not look so pathetic. And Tucker, and maybe this is a controversial opinion, but I don't really think that the podcast wars did this. Now, before we dive into today's story, I actually want to ask you guys a question.

What do you think MAGA stands for these days. I'm actually interested in reading your comments. Like, do you still identify with MAGA? Do you think it still represents the same thing that it did in 2016, 2020, or even 2024? This is a debate that I've been seeing in comment sections on X. It's something Alex and I have been talking about a lot, and I think it's really relevant to what we are discussing today. And I'm genuinely just interested in where you guys stand.

So, we're going to do a little bit of my own polling today. I don't know if you guys saw, but CNN was like, "100% of MAGA approves of everything Trump is doing. 100% approval rating." And I was like, "Oh oh." Okay, well, then, am I am I still MAGA? I don't know. Anyway, let me know. I'm excited to read your comments. All right. Moving into today's story, we certainly are in the era of failed conventions. You know, 2 years ago, we had the infamous Willy's Chocolate Experience that happened in Scotland.

There was the woman in the crazy green wig doing the potions. Of course, there was Fyre Fest, TanaCon, which was Tana How do you even pronounce her last name? Mogul? Module? Whatever it is, that was her alternative to VidCon. There was, of course, DashCon, which was some kind of like Tumblr conference where the only amenity they offered people was a blow-up ball pit. Anyway, the point is, this weekend, and you might have seen this on social media, there was a festival that was put on in Fort Lauderdale called Barbie's Dream Fest.

And it was just the latest in a long line of overhyped and under-delivered events. And the tickets cost a whopping this event was was to have Serena Williams winning like this girl boss feminism award. Angel Reese was supposed to be there. They would have inspiring panels on girlhood and womanhood, glam bars, and photo shoots, and fashion shows. They were even going to have yoga and disco and a marketplace and all of these things.

It was for moms, daughters, sisters, babies, everyone. It was just a place to celebrate Barbie and womanhood. But, when the guests arrived, this is what they got instead. A 20 by 20 cutout of turf that they probably bought that morning at Lowe's and a Barbie Dream House that looked like they ordered it off of Teemu. Now, they also had a roller rink that was literally just like concert barrier fencing sectioning off a part of the concrete floor that literally looks like a near trauma surgeon's dream.

Like already in that photo, if we zoom in a little bit, THERE IS SOMEBODY GOING DOWN HEADFIRST onto straight concrete. They also then had the Barbie marketplace that they were talking so highly about. I don't I don't even have like a great analogy for that because it's so depressing and empty. Like these people seriously got bamboozled. The Financial Times wrote about it and how it was just an utter calamity, as Link Lauren would say, an utter disaster.

And they wrote, "The larger-than-life interactive dream house was a one-dimensional cutout with a stretch of artificial grass, a picnic blanket, two pink chairs, and a camper van. The '80s disco roller rink where the program promised fans could glide under neon lights was 10 metal barricades arranged in a rectangle. No neon lights, no decor, no disco. Had Billie Eilish written a theme song for Barbie Dream Fest as she did for the 2023 Barbie movie, she might have changed the title from what was I made for to what have I paid for?"

And that, my friends, might be the best line that a journalist has ever written. I mean, you guys, it was so bad that people on Reddit were saying that they left early despite HAVING FLOWN TO FLORIDA for this event and paying for a three-day pass. This person said, "I'm there, too. I was going to stay through Sunday. I changed my flight to leave tomorrow morning. It is so sad how terrible it is there. I don't want to come back tomorrow, actually.

I was upstairs and I heard staff members voicing concerns about all of the canceled guests and programming. Yeah, your concern, I guess, should be the canceled guest, but you should have been concerned about the programming before people got there. That's something you think about before people start changing their flights to leave Barbie Fest. Now, you guys know I love this stuff. I've done so many episodes on Fyre Fest and the Willy's Chocolate Experience.

Like, I just love chaos online. So, this absolutely consumed my feed this weekend. It was all up in my algorithm. I could not stop laughing as more and more photos were coming out of girls in pink dresses and empty conference centers. And then, LOL, I realized that half of the photos WERE OF CPAC. I WAS SCROLLING THROUGH AND I WAS LIKE, "Oh my god, there's literally nobody here." And then I realized I was looking at CPAC.

These are photos from Vanity Fair. Guys, you I genuinely thought that some of this was Barbie Con, but no, it's CPAC. Like, oops. My bad. Honest mistake, I guess, because based on the photos and videos online, CPAC looked about as dead as Barbie Fest. Now, you might be like, "Brett, I don't even know what you're talking about. What the actual F is CPAC?" And honestly, guys, I had to ask myself that same question. Like, obviously, I knew that there was a conservative event called CPAC.

I've like watched people's speeches there before. I knew that it happened, but I didn't actually know what it was. And I didn't realize that until a couple of days ago. Vanity Fair reached out to me last week. They said, "You know, we're doing this article on Gen Z and CPAC, the modern conservative movement. We're sending reporters there. You know, could you give us your thoughts on the event?" And I literally read that email and I was like, "Huh?"

I genuinely didn't know how to respond, which they actually printed. Just listen to this. I was cracking up. I didn't think that they would actually use this in the article. But they said, "Brett Cooper, a 24-year-old conservative commentator with a YouTube show consisting of over 1.6 million subscribers, woo woo, has recently been notably vocal about the war in Iran, particularly in what she sees as the lack of transparency in the administration's messaging, very true.

When asked why she didn't attend the conference this year, she said, "Ironically, I have no comment because I literally don't even know what CPAC is." And that is how I responded. And I was like, "Yeah, you're welcome to print that, but I have nothing to say. I have no contacts on what it was before, what it is now. I don't even know. Like, am I Am I a bad conservative? Am I a bad conservative commentator? Like, the only joy that I get out of these types of events these days is looking at the Grindr surge in the area after the events take place to get a good laugh.

But like, this time, there weren't even enough PEOPLE THERE TO HAVE A Grindr surge. Anyway, moving on from that, just had to throw that in there. Like I said, I knew that CPAC was some big event conference. I had never attended. I don't think I've ever been invited. I'm not sure. I don't remember if I have. And literally, guys, my only experience with CPAC in any capacity whatsoever is that 4 years ago, one of my best friends, one of my bridesmaids, she attended CPAC.

She went to network for her job. She ended up having her drink spiked and WOKE UP OUTSIDE OF HER HOTEL. LIKE, IN THE GRASS OUTSIDE OF HER HOTEL. LIKE, it is a true story. Horrifying story. But yeah, I never went. I definitely did not go after that was her experience because again, horrifying. And then on top of that, until this weekend, I did not know what the acronym stood for. I did not know that it was put on by a super PAC.

Like, genuinely, I was living in the dark. And based on the rest of that article from Vanity Fair, based on the response online for my generation about what they saw at CPAC or did not see because they chose not to go, I do not think I am alone in this feeling. But I do have to be fair and say that I don't think anyone was as alone as the people actually attending CPAC because my friends, it was so dead. Just take a look at these videos here.

>> giving them a platform, giving them a voice. These are the people that work hard every day that come home with grease on their hands after working double shifts. And these are the people like my family that get I mean, like, half of the chairs are empty. Here's another one. strong sanctions by the Trump administration against Supreme Court Justices and officials of National Election Commissioners. That last one is the greatest video that I saw this weekend.

It tops everything coming out of Barbie Fest. It is the best video out of CPAC. Like let's just like zoom in here for a moment. Look at this man. He's sitting in a sea of empty chairs. Like it's not even like people have gotten up to leave the event, to go get a drink, whatever. Like the brochures, the programs are unmoved on the chairs. Nobody's butts have touched those chairs. He's sitting there in a half-empty conference hall, totally asleep.

Like that might be the most perfect image for politics right now. You have empty chairs, boomers who are asleep at the wheel. Like this is the generation that wants us to put boots on the ground in Iran, and they cannot even stay awake enough to hear the speeches with all the propaganda. It's like that is how tired they are. You should not be making our decisions about foreign policy and where our military goes. I'm sorry, you literally cannot even stay awake.

Now, obviously, to be fair, even though I think most of the chairs were empty, there were people who did show up, and there were people at the conference who were very bought into the messaging and to the ideas. Like these are the videos that Trump's team is probably showing him to encourage him to make more questionable decisions. Just watch. >> I started off pretty upset with the war. Um I have an 18-year-old son.

So, that really hit close to home. We had to get him registered for the select selective service and everything. And so, I wasn't happy about it. Um but then I saw these three boys that were publicly hung in Iran. That regime has been threatening Americans and has has been killing Americans for years. If my son was called to go, um I would still support the war. Listen, I mean, she is allowed to feel that way. I certainly do not.

She allowed to wear her bedazzled, rhinestoned Trump jacket with her MAGA hat and say that if her son was sent off to war to do regime change, that is her right. But I certainly do not agree. Now, I do have to say this next video, it might top even that one. He is a president of peace. So, this is to bring peace in the area. When this when this gets taken care of, it's going to be peace. And it's what I believe I'm on Truth Social.

That's the only social media I do. And I believe that he's going to have, um, you know, bring peace and it's going to be very short. And he's got a plan. He's a genius. THERE'S ALWAYS A PLAN. THERE'S ALWAYS A PLAN. I do have to say I appreciate these people because I want there to be a plan. Like I have said since the beginning, like I would rather Trump be doing this than some other president because if we're going to go to war in the Middle East, like I I trust him like a little bit more.

I hope there's a plan. But now like 6 weeks into this, when the goal post has been shifted, when now we're backtracking on why we're there, I'm like, "Ah, I really don't know if there's a plan." Maybe she should get off of Truth Social. Like I'm just being honest, guys, about where my mind is going. But also, I just have to go back to this idea of like Trump watching these videos. Like can you just imagine his next Truth Social post of like "This beautiful lady, she loves me.

MAGA loves me. The the brilliant base of MAGA has never been more united. P.S. Go watch Mark Levin's show. It's going to be like Oh my god!" I want to literally like put my head in the sand. Okay, anyway, that was a low blow. I had to. Sorry. Moving on. Anyway, the point is there just weren't that many people there. Some were bought in, but honestly, people just didn't show up. And there are a lot of people pointing fingers right now and trying to blame but I think honestly, a lot of that was probably because of the economy.

It's expensive to travel right now. It's not pleasant to travel right now. Everything is more expensive, especially thanks to what is going on overseas, so I think that was probably a contributing factor, but I think maybe even more than that, a lot of it is because people are just exhausted right now. Like they're not bought in. They are not united by a common goal or a mission or a positive like light at the end of the tunnel that they see.

Like the enemy isn't even the left anymore. It's just each other. And even more than that, I feel like there's just a general sense of apathy. So if I could maybe give us all something to fight against, I would say that it would be toxic skin care, which is why you need tallow from Amalo. Now if you know me, then you know that I am obsessed with beef tallow, specifically tallow for my friends over at Amalo. And yes, I even got Alex to start using it.

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It literally is made for you. Go to gojevity.com/brettcooper, code Brett for 20% off. Again, that is g o g e v i t i.com/brettcooper. Get the receipts on your own health. All right, now back to the point and what was happening at CPAC. Again, the enemy is each other, there is so much apathy, and you know, I was watching all of these speeches, and I was like, yeah, okay, well, we could be thinking positively about the future, fighting for the midterms, cuz obviously those are coming up, and it doesn't feel like it's going to be that great for us, but barely anybody who got on stage actually talked about that.

Like, for example, Josh Hammer was a speaker, and by the way, I just have to say, I had never heard of this man until we started talking about Charlie Kirk's group chats, and like, I am positively exhausted by him now. Did not care to know about him, do not My life is not made better by knowing I'm sorry. Again, low blow, just had to say. Anyway, he was a speaker, and he just talked about other people. Just watch. The right denizens of podcastistan reject the fundamental essence, however, of MAGA.

Much like the neo-Marxist left, the right doesn't think America was ever great, and they certainly don't think that America is capable of being made great once again. They are therefore explicitly anti-MAGA. You got the gist of it. His entire speech was about the right, and Megan Kelly, and Tucker Carlson, and all the things. And I just have to say, it is ironic that he was saying that those people were never really MAGA when Josh Hammer himself was a never Trumper.

So, like, let's just pipe down, sir. Anyway, moving on from that, I really just played that clip of Josh Hammer so that I could show you my favorite tweet from the weekend. This is from Redheaded Libertarian, and she said, "CPAC planning meeting. Guy one, how do we appeal to the kids? Guy two, gay vampires? You have my attention." Like, I'm sorry, I had no idea until I read that tweet how much Josh Hammer looks like the little vampire from Sesame Street.

Just look him up. You'll see. Anyway, needless to say, the other point that I'm trying to make here is that Josh Hammer didn't really bring in a crowd. Like, the man was talking to chairs. And to be honest, guys, so was Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz was preaching to chairs about how Venezuela and Cuba and Iran will all have new governments, new amazing governments in the next 6 months. Just watch. >> Today, we have a greater chance that in the next 6 months, we will see a new government in Venezuela, in Cuba, and in Iran.

Um interesting. You know, based on my memory of MAGA and what that stood for, I really thought we were supposed to be America first and that we were against regime change as a coalition. But maybe maybe I'm just the crazy one. Now, to be fair, I am not just here to crap on those two men, even though obviously doing that has become a staple on my show, specifically with Ted Cruz, because the real point that I want to make here is that no one showed up for anyone on either side of the modern conservative right.

Like, for example, not for Bannon, as you can see here, empty chairs in front of him as well. NOT EVEN FOR MATT GAETZ, who essentially gave the exact opposite speech as Ted Cruz in regard to Iran and foreign policy. Again, empty chairs everywhere. Now, I'm showing you all of this just so you have the full picture of what the event looks like, because if you went on X, you probably would have seen people saying things like this.

Apparently, CPAC is empty this year. Curious how this keeps happening to groups that align themselves with the post-liberals and the new right influencer scene, aka, thanks Josh Hammer, the right, America first, non-Zionist gripers, whatever you want to call them. And then you have that same side, the right, saying, "LMAO, boo, this is because of Ted Cruz and Josh Hammer. They did this. They ruined CPAC." Like, I'm sorry.

Controversial opinion, maybe everybody ruined it. Maybe everyone is just too busy with their normal lives. Maybe they are just too busy trying to make ends meet in this economy. Maybe they are hoping that we do not get dragged into another decades-long regime change war in the Middle East. Maybe they are hoping that we don't hit $200 oil, and maybe they just couldn't be bothered because of all of that to attend this convention.

Maybe they aren't fired up right now, and they don't really think any of these people could actually fire them up. Maybe they are demoralized and checked out because in a lot of ways, that's how I feel. Like I used to get behind this microphone. Like back on Common Sense leading up to the 2024 election, and I was so excited to talk about politics. I had so much hope. There was so much unity. You had this like incredible coalition.

Like I remember getting chills watching the insane Trump ad where they talked about unity. And you had Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. and J.D. Vance and Kash Patel and Trump, and he was talking about strength through peace. And he was talking about unity with the left and the right and a positive hope for America. And I'm like, where where did that feeling go? And why am I sitting here every day going, "Oh my god, like what am I going to talk about today?"

Because everything just seems so depressing. And it's all ironic because then you have the admin posting things like MAGA is 100% behind Donald Trump. Trump has a 100% approval rating with MAGA. And that's kind of why I was asking you guys that question at the beginning because it's like, okay, then what actually is MAGA now? Because I have like 10 MAGA hats. I would considered myself mega, but I don't I'm not giving Trump a 100% approval rating personally.

Maybe you guys are. I personally am not. Like who actually identifies with that anymore? And I'm not saying that in a like a rhetorical way of like who could identify, but like actually who is that base? Because the last time I checked, Trump said that mega was just the people who always agreed with him. Based on Truth Social posts, I don't even know what to think anymore. So yeah, I would say that this whole weekend watching it unfold on social media was disheartening, but also and not completely surprising.

Like I am not shocked at all that most of these speakers were speaking to empty chairs. And honestly, I kind of feel like a total buffoon. I don't know if that's the right word to say. Maybe it's just that I I think it's ironic because literally this time last year, like March and February of last year, I was making all of these videos about how the left was having this massive crisis, an authenticity crisis. They didn't have a leader.

They had no positivity. There was no unity, which was why they failed in 2024. And that kind of unity and genuine joy, not the fake Kamala joy, but the genuine joy is what in my opinion like emotionally pushed Trump over the finish line for so many voters in 2024. And then a year later, here I am feeling demoralized and disheartened watching CPAC unfold online looking like a red, white, and blue Barbie dream fest. Meanwhile, at the exact same time, this is what the No Kings protest looked like across America.

And I know that we have made a lot of jokes about the No Kings protest from earlier this year. The geriatric women, you know, dressed like freaking tacos dancing in the streets. The people in wheelchairs rolling out of their assisted living facilities to come protest on the streets, but like I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY DID. But they pulled it together. They pulled it together and while CPAC was dwindling, they were literally roaring in the streets.

Now granted, I'm sure that a lot of them are still MSNBC boomers, but we cannot write off millions of people taking to the streets. And so I'm watching all this unfold and I'd love to sit here and go, "Okay, guys, well, we got to fight back. Let's mobilize. Let's, you know, focus on the midterms. We got to elect great people. We got to push through Trump's agenda." All of that. We need to elect amazing people. But we did that.

We did that in 2024 when Trump won. That meant the Republicans, this new movement of conservatives, had the presidency, the House, the Senate. We had a conservative majority in the Supreme Court. And what have they gotten done? Like it doesn't feel like we're winning. Like for example, DOJ was not even able to last a year. It was supposed to be an 18-month program and it only lasted until May of last year. Meanwhile, just a couple of months ago, minority leader Chuck Schumer boasted that he had bipartisan bipartisan support to reverse all of those DOJ cuts and spend even more money in an upcoming spending bill.

That doesn't make me feel great. Now, obviously, I have to be fair. There are things that I have been really happy with, especially regarding HHS and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., everything he did with vaccines. I liked a lot of Trump's executive orders, but I do wish Congress had been able to, you know, codify more of them without just smooshing them together in massive spending bills that spend more than DOJ even, you know, attempted to cut.

I obviously don't really feel great about what's happening globally at the moment, but I just wanted to put that out there cuz I'm not like totally doom and gloom, but emotionally, I'm like I'm not really in like a fighting spirit. Now, all of that being said, I will say I am not one of those people that is going to sit here and say like opt out. Don't vote. Go vote for Democrats. Like I think that is ridiculous. Obviously, I am not in support of that.

But I do understand people tuning out, why they feel demoralized, and why they might even go so far as to say those things, even though I don't agree with them. And yes, obviously, there are podcast wars that are raging. You have Mark Levin and Megyn Kelly like yelling at each other on X about what's going on in each other's pants, which unfortunately, horrifying that we all have to read that, but I don't think that they created what is going on right now in the real world.

Like yes, that is indicative of bigger debates in politics right now, but that is just drama that's going on in our weird little like con ink bubble. Like most people in the world are just done because life moves on. They have children to raise. They have bills to pay. They have jobs to go to that they hope are not taken by AI. And by the way, it isn't the podcaster's fault that the White House had Melania walk out with a robot talking about how AI should take over teachers' jobs.

Like when everybody's reading about how AI is coming for all entry-level jobs and everybody's going to be out of work. The only people that are going to be able to have JOBS ARE PLUMBERS. THAT was probably not the best thing to promote. Just like image-wise, EVEN IF THAT MIGHT be the future in like 20 years, maybe we shouldn't be talking about that or promoting that when everybody feels so insecure and so scared about the future.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes, I do think that the podcast wars have created drama, but let's not pin the root of the problem on that. It goes a lot deeper and I I don't know how it'll turn out for us in the midterms. Like if CPAC is any indication, then yeah, we might be cooked. The next RNC might look like Fire Fest 2.0. I have no words. Hi gal. How you doing? So, this is Nora.