The “Red State Gathering” already made headlines by disinviting Donald Trump from the event after his comments about Megyn Kelly, but they made some others even more angry by not inviting Ben Carson at all.
Here’s Erick Erickson’s explanation on why he wasn’t invited:
The story of Marco Rubio is one that is tied closely to the success of the RedState Gathering. Back at the first Gathering in 2009, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)92% was a former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives drawing about 1% of the vote in a Republican primary opinion poll versus Governor Charlie Crist. He won the primary election against Mr. Crist, of course, and he won the general election. Now, he is running for the Republican nod for the Presidency, and it is easily apparent that he has a lot of support for that honor. As he has been so willing to do in the past, he stopped by this year’s Gathering to speak to everyone. Here is what he said:
Carly Fiorina wowed the crowd at the Red State Gathering in Atlanta, and it’s no surprise – she is hands down one among the most brilliant speakers in our GOP bench this season.
Watch the full speech here:
I cannot say enough how much I LOVE her definition of conservatism. It’s right at the beginning of the speech if you want to just hear that portion.
Earlier today I had a conversation with Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. He’s out on the campaign trail now. I started the interview with the late breaking news about Chattanooga, but also got him to focus on his one big item and why liberals, even when winning, seem so angry.
Greg Abbott is the man who has to fill the massive shoes left by Rick Perry as Governor of Texas. Fortunately for Texans, it appears he is more than up to the task. He is also a great friend to us here at RedState, so it was great that we were able to have him speak at this year’s Gathering. Here’s what he had to say:
ATLANTA — Michael Pemberton, a 65-year-old conservative from Kentucky, started the day in a good mood. He was attending his second RedState Gathering, and ready to hear from 10 of the Republican Party's presidential candidates. He dug into breakfast — coffee and fruit — and sat down with another conference-goer.
"One of the chaps across me asked, 'Did you hear the news?'" recalled Pemberton. "I thought he was going to tell me that a sinkhole opened up in Kentucky and I couldn't go again. But no: He said, they disinvited Donald Trump. I lost my appetite."
Pemberton grabbed a sharpie and a note card and scrawled out "I AM DONALD TRUMP." He affixed it to his jacket with an American flag pin and grudgingly walked into the conference, determined never to come again.
More than 700 activists had signed up for the gathering, and up to a thousand of them had been expected to join Trump at a Saturday night party at the College Football Hall of Fame. On Saturday morning, the reaction to Trump's exclusion was mixed — and distracting. Annoyance at what seemed to be a politically correct purge competed with annoyance at Trump himself.
"It was really inappropriate to attack Megyn Kelly," said Richard Fonte, 70, an activist who split his time between Texas and Illinois, and strongly supported Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) for president. "That and the fact that he's taking the position that he might run as a third party — that would automatically elect Hillary Clinton."
Fonte's wife, Dulsey, 68, was even happier to see Trump gone: "I find him crude," she said. "I have no sympathy for his candidacy."
Those sentiments had been burbling up on the right, but even 12 hours earlier, Trump's Republican critics had started to soften their tone, and say that the billionaire candidate had tapped into a well of legitimate voter anger. Saturday's burst of anger at Trump was jarring; not everyone at the conference could agree what Trump had even said. Was he making a crude joke about menstruation or wasn't he?
"It's wrong to exclude him and insult him on what people interpret he said as opposed to what he said," said Pemberton. "He was saying that Megyn was seeing blood, in her eyes. As far as 'blood coming out all over,' the first thing I think of is not a woman's menstrual cycle. I think of Jesus Christ, thorns on his head, nail holes in his hands, stigmata."
