Politics

Conservative Columnist Trashes CPAC… At CPAC

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Scott Greer Contributor
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Conservative columnist Mona Charen attacked CPAC for inviting French nationalist Marion Marechal-Le Pen to speak while addressing the conference Saturday.

“I think the only reason she was here is because she’s named Le Pen,” Charen said during a CPAC panel on the #MeToo movement. “And the Le Pen name is a disgrace. Her grandfather is a racist and a Nazi. She claims that she stands for him. And the fact that CPAC invited her is a disgrace.” (RELATED: Le Pen At CPAC: ‘All I Want Is The Survival Of My Nation’)

That comment drew loud boos from the audience and jeers wondering why she was even at the conservative event. Several conservative commentators expressed outraged at Le Pen’s invite, claiming the young French politician is a “national socialist” and a false conservative. (RELATED: Marion Le Pen Makes Sense For CPAC)

Charen’s criticism of CPAC was not the only statement that drew ire from the crowd. She also attacked President Trump over his own allegations of sexual misconduct.

“I’m actually gonna twist this around a bit and say that I’m disappointed in people on our side,” she argued. “For being hypocrites about sexual harassers and abusers of women who are in our party. Who are sitting in the White House. Who brag about their extramarital affairs. Who brag about mistreating women. And because he happens to have an R after his name, we look the other way, we don’t complain.”

Charen also criticized the GOP for supporting Roy Moore in last year’s Alabama Senate race. “This is a party that was ready to endorse — the Republican Party endorsed Roy Moore, for the Senate in the state of Alabama even though he was a credibly accused child molester. You can not claim that you stand for women and put up with that,” she said.

All of these statements were met with vigorous boos and jeers from the crowd. Politico Magazine correspondent Tim Alberta reported that after the panel concluded, Charen had to be escorted out by three security guards.

Charen has long been a critic of Trump and contributed to National Review’s infamous “Against Trump” issue in 2016.