CNN Panel Warns of Trump’s Message of ‘Retribution’ From CPAC: ‘This is Someone Who Is Not Well’

John Avlon took the lead on CNN This Morning by urging viewers not to ignore former President Donald Trump as a political force after his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Avlon joined the morning show to discuss Trump’s speech and his overshadowing presence at the conference over the weekend. Kaitlan Collins particularly asked Avlon what he thought of Trump using his speech to declare himself the GOP’s “retribution” for 2024.

Avlon began with his observation that CPAC has become increasingly fringey in recent years, but he acknowledged how it still has “a lot of pull” over the Republican base. Thus, Avlon noted how Trump is using his influence over CPAC to deliver his “retribution” message, which shouldn’t be overlooked.

“It is very easy to treat Trump as a sideshow because if you look at his posts on Truth Social if you look at that rambling, 145-minute lie-filled speech, you’d say this is someone who is not well,” said Avlon. “And yet, we need to concede he’s, right now, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, and the more crowded the primary is, the more likely he is to win.”

This prompted Avlon to advise, “there’s a danger of sleepwalking past these absurdities, these inanities, these divisive fireballs the former president is throwing, simply because he is somebody who is under multiple investigations right now. Somebody who tried to overturn our democracy. But that is not a disqualifier in today’s Republican Party. So I think we need to be wide-eyed about that right now.”

Don Lemon followed up by calling Trump’s speech “low energy,” saying that it harkened back to his “American carnage” speech.

Watch above via CNN.