7 Things To Know About President Trump's CPAC Speech

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — President Trump delivered a speech Friday morning at the Conservative Political Action Conference, otherwise known as CPAC, to a crowd of politicians, activists and reporters.

Though his remarks were likely pre-written, he clearly diverged from their exact wording, riffing and going on tangents in his typical off-the-cuff style. The speech touched on many familiar themes from his campaign rhetoric, including polling, the media, his supporters, the military and Obamacare. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Here are seven things to know about the speech:

1. He lashed out at political consultants.

The president took aim early on in the speech at political consultants, a class he likely regards with derision because of the success of his unorthodox campaign.

"They're not good at politics," Trump said, "but they're good at sucking up other people's money."

Though Trump doesn't frequently criticize political consultants, he's certainly not alone in regarding them with suspicion. Many observers from all sides of the partisan divide have expressed skepticism at the motivations and decisions of consultants over the years.

2. He preempted media criticism of his speech.

As soon as he got up to the lectern, Trump began his attacks on the media. He speculated that they wouldn't report the standing ovation he received from the crowd in the auditorium.

He also claimed that the the lines at the conference hall stretched six blocks. Cristina Marcos, a reporter for The Hill, noted that there were not in fact any lines in the hour before his speech.

"Streets surrounding the area were quiet save for a few people, mostly CPAC volunteers, stopping at a nearby Starbucks and security officers patrolling the front of the Gaylord," she wrote.

Joanna Rothkopf, of Jezebel, confirmed The Hill's report:

3. "We are fighting the fake news. It's fake, phony."

Trump doubled down (or tripled down, or quadrupled down) on his attacks on media coverage of him, defending his claim that the press is the "enemy of the people"

"They have no sources, they just make them up when there are none," he said. "I know the people, I know who they talk to."

However, these claims contradict his own denunciations of administration leaks. Multiple times, Trump has said the leaking of confidential information to the media has to stop; this seems to imply that the press are reporting stories from genuine government sources.

He also denied that his attacks on the media were dangerous for the First Amendment. "I love the First Amendment," he said. "Nobody loves it more than me. Who uses it more than I do?"

4. He said he doesn't need to repeal Obamacare, but he will anyway.

On Obamacare, Trump said he doesn't need to do anything to see its demise.

"The single best thing we can do is nothing. Let it implode," he said. "The Democrats will come to us and beg. It's their problem. But it's not the right thing to do."

He reiterated his pledge to repeal and replace the law with something that will be cheaper. He also criticized the current law for covering very few people.

5. He decided he likes Sen. Bernie Sanders, after all.

While talking about the success of the movement behind his candidacy, he mentioned that other movements have petered out, such as the one that supported Sen. Bernie Sanders.

"A lot of Bernie people voted for Trump," Trump said. "We got a lot of Bernie support. So I like Bernie, OK?"

He noted that while he didn't agree with Sanders on a lot of issues, the senator from Vermont got one thing right: how bad trade deals have been. He said that his election has already started to turn things around for the manufacturing sector.

6. Also, conservative values.

For a speech at CPAC, Trump took his time before he mentioned conservative values. About halfway through the speech, while talking about his electoral win, he said, "Our victory was a win for the conservative values."

"We love our flag," he said. "The core conviction of our movement is that we are a country that put and will put our own citizens first."

Cheers of "USA" followed from the crowd.

7. Trump likes Campbell's soup.

Referring to his meeting with business leaders on Thursday, he mentioned a few of the companies that were represented, including Campbell's Soup Company.

"I like Campbell's soup," he said.

This comment is likely sincere. He said the same thing, unprompted, at the business leader meeting:

BONUS: CPAC attendees waved Russian flags.

Attendees of the speech waved Russian flags with the word "TRUMP" emblazoned in the center. Conference staff removed the flags, according to Peter Hamby, head of news at Snapchat and formerly of CNN who took photos of the incident. He said the people waving the flags were "unwitting college kids."

Patch reached out to the American Conservative Union, which runs CPAC, to inquire into why the flags were confiscated, but did not receive a prompt response.

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Photo credit: Olivier Douliery - Pool/Getty News Images/Getty Images