CPAC scrambles to control damage after attendees wave Russian flags during Trump speech
Staffers at CPAC quickly scrambled to confiscate Russian flags with the word “TRUMP” written on the front that were being waved by attendees during President Donald Trump’s speech on Friday.
The trouble began when some attendees took out pro-Trump flags to wave during the president’s speech that also happened to have the same white-blue-and-red striped pattern as Russia’s official flag.
Reporter Peter Hamby notes that CPAC staffers quickly realized that its attendees were waving Russian flags, and moved to confiscate them.
Crowd at CPAC waving these little pro-Trump flags that look exactly like the Russian flag. Staffers quickly come around to confiscate them. pic.twitter.com/YhPpkwFCNc
— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) February 24, 2017
A section of people in the back of #CPAC2017 waving Russian flags — a staffer just came and demanded they all be handed over. pic.twitter.com/mZVoVUqudn
— Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) February 24, 2017
No joke, someone has been handing out Russian flags that say #Trump on them. And people are waving them.#CPAC2017 pic.twitter.com/CDZS5oEqyL
— Maya Shwayder (@MayaErgas) February 24, 2017
In addition to the attendees waving Russian flags, journalist Sarah Posner reports at least one attendee was spotted wearing a “Make Russia Great Again” t-shirt.
Spotted: A guy wearing a "Make Russia Great Again" t-shirt. #CPAC2017
— Sarah Posner (@sarahposner) February 24, 2017
ABC News’s Ali Rogin has also posted a photo of a larger version of the Russian Trump flag.
#CPAC pic.twitter.com/Hb8JUxVfIm
— Ali Rogin (@AliRogin) February 24, 2017
The flags were handed out by an anti-Trump activist named Ryan Clayton.
“Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the U.S. Constitution and the American people,” Clayton, the leader of Americans Take Action, told PEOPLE. “That’s why Putin picked him for president, because he knows the Trump regime is good for Russian interests, not the American people. Trump is Putin’s puppet, a traitor to the United States, and must be impeached immediately.”
Lyudmila Laptander, an activist advocating autonomy for her mineral-rich Nenets region in the Russian Arctic, worries authorities are planning to sacrifice its traditions for the promise of economic enrichment.
"If Nenets is merged with another region, I worry that no one will look after our language or our traditions, and that our small villages in the tundra will be forgotten," said Laptander, 61, a member of the Yasavey cultural group.
The autonomous region on the edge of the Arctic Ocean was gripped by protests in May against the government's plans to integrate it with neighbouring Arkhangelsk.
The coronavirus pandemic has led millions of people to embrace meetings via Zoom, but admittedly, those can be as tedious as in-person conferences.
So one animal sanctuary in Canada, in dire need of cash after being forced to close to visitors, found a way to solve both problems.
Meet Buckwheat, a donkey at the Farmhouse Garden Animal Home, who is ready to inject some fun into your humdrum work-from-home office day -- for a price.
"Hello. We are crashing your meeting, we are crashing your meeting -- this is Buckwheat," says sanctuary volunteer Tim Fors, introducing the gray and white animal on a Zoom call.
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There’s something interesting in today’s news:
A number of Republican Senators have said they are skipping the Republican National Convention this year. The convention was originally scheduled in Charlotte, North Carolina, but at Trump’s insistence was relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, last month. The stated reason was that Democratic North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper would not commit to permitting a full convention out of concerns about the spread of coronavirus, but the abrupt switch to Florida, less than 80 days before the convention, still seems odd to me. Regardless, the switch has created a new problem: Florida is in the midst of a dramatic spike in coronavirus cases, setting a record for new cases in a single day during the weekend —11,458—and running low of ICU beds.
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