<ul class="summary-list"><li>Actor <keyword id="12454242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kristy-swanson" source="Orion">Kristy Swanson</keyword> announced she is in the hospital being treated for COVID-19.</li><li>The original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" said she is "in good spirits and in great hands."</li></ul>Actress Kristy Swanson was hospitalized in New Jersey over the weekend for COVID-19, she announced on Twitter.The original star of the 1992 film "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" asked her thousands of Twitter followers for prayers on Monday, saying she was still in the hospital being treated for pneumonia.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Kristy Swanson (@KristySwansonXO) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1455187278335205376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2021</a></blockquote>In a follow-up tweet on Monday, Swanson clarified that she had previously been battling a COVID-19 diagnosis when the disease "jumped into my lungs." She said she is "in good spirits and in great hands." The actress also said she is on oxygen.A representative for Swanson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Kristy Swanson (@KristySwansonXO) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1455240430258475010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2021</a></blockquote>Swanson responded to several Twitter comments following her announcement, <a href="https://twitter.com/KristySwansonXO/status/1455286011383226370">saying she has never said she's anti-vaccine.</a>She has not indicated if she was vaccinated or not, but the actress previously expressed her dislike for COVID-19 <keyword id="11894310" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="vaccine" source="Orion">vaccine</keyword> mandates in a <a href="https://twitter.com/KristySwansonXO/status/1443247836162924550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1443247836162924550%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fblogs%2Fin-the-know%2Fin-the-know%2F579469-pro-trump-actor-kristy-swanson-hospitalized-with-covid-19d-19">September tweet</a>, in which she suggested the requirement was a way "they can make mo-money." It was not clear who Swanson was referring to in her use of "they."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Kristy Swanson (@KristySwansonXO) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1443247836162924550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2021</a></blockquote><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html">Health officials have deemed the COVID-19 vaccines safe</a> and an essential tool in fighting the pandemic. Swanson, who appeared in films like "Pretty in Pink" and "Dude, Where's My Car?" has been an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump. In March 2020, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-trump-meets-white-house-deep-state-actors-coronavirus-outbreak-2020-3">Swanson met with Trump in the Oval Office</a> while promoting a play she was starring in about anti-Trump texts sent by ex-FBI employees.

Actor Kristy Swanson announces she was hospitalized for COVID-19

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Dolly Parton says there are plans to reboot "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."</li><li>Parton's production company, Sandollar Television, produced the original series.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/buffy-stars-where-are-they-now-2017-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"</a> could be returning to screens, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dolly-parton-interesting-things-you-didnt-know?r=US&amp;IR=T">Dolly Parton</a>.While Parton is best known as a country music legend, she was also an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sarah-michelle-gellar-dolly-parton-uncredited-producer-buffy-vampire-slayer-2023-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">uncredited producer</a> on the 1990s cult classic television series starring <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sarah-michelle-gellar-zendaya-buffy-evan-ross-katz-2022-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">Sarah Michelle Gellar</a>, and the 1992 movie it is based on.Parton's production company, Sandollar Productions, which the singer cofounded with her former manager, Sandy Gallin, coproduced all seven seasons of "Buffy" through its television production arm, Sandollar Television. It also coproduced the spinoff show "Angel" starring David Boreanaz."They're still working on that," Parton tells Business Insider, though she did not specify who exactly is involved in the project. "They're thinking about bringing it back and revamping it."Parton's Sandollar Productions coproduced the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ben-affleck-so-bad-buffy-movie-single-line-dubbed-over-2023-4">original "Buffy" movie</a> starring Kristy Swanson with Kuzui Enterprises, the production company cofounded by the movie's director, Fran Rubel Kuzui, and her husband Kaz Kuzui.The production companies later teamed with "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon's Mutant Enemy Productions and 20th Century Fox Television (now simply 20th Television) on the popular TV series.<div type="image" title="The cast of &quot;Buffy The Vampire Slayer&quot; in 2000." height="2918" width="3000" msid="107124296" hostid="261" sizebytes="967718"></div>According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/buffy-feature-relaunch-84496/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>, Fran Rubel Kuzui first attempted to reboot "Buffy" with a new movie in 2009. However, fans of the show, and some of its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Alyson-Hannigan-Says-Thanks-Buffy-Vampire-Slayer-Remake-15952.html">cast members</a>, criticized the project for not involving Whedon.In 2018, Whedon and producer and screenwriter Monica Owusu-Breen collaborated on a proposed "Buffy" reboot with a Black lead, reported <a target="_blank" href="https://deadline.com/2018/07/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-series-reboot-in-works-black-lead-monica-owusu-breen-joss-whedon-1202430592/">Deadline</a>.This time, the project received backlash from fans who assumed a Black actor would play Buffy. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Owusu-Breen suggested the reboot would introduce new characters."There is only one Buffy," she wrote.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/Sdz4oKh3gM">pic.twitter.com/Sdz4oKh3gM</a>— m.o.b. (@monicabreen) <a href="https://twitter.com/monicabreen/status/1022507356964278272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2018</a></blockquote>Although plans for an on-screen reboot have yet to come to fruition, the world of "Buffy" has extended to other mediums.Several "Buffy" cast members reunited last year for an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Slayers-A-Buffyverse-Story-Audiobook/B0CGJ1DNQ1">Audible</a> series set after the events of the show, which concluded in 2003."Slayers: A Buffyverse Story" picks up 10 years after the "Buffy" series finale and focuses on a new slayer, Indira (voiced by Laya DeLeon Hayes), and Buffy's former vampire lover, Spike (voiced by James Marsters).Anthony Head, Charisma Carpenter, Juliet Landau, Emma Caulfield, Amber Benson, James Charles Leary, and Danny Strong also reprised their roles from the TV series.Speaking of the original series, Parton tells <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dolly-parton-producer-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-involved-gifts-2024-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">Business Insider</a> that while she was "very involved," the credit for the show's success is down to the people who worked on it every day.Parton says she lived in Nashville when "Buffy" was filming in Los Angeles, so she didn't get to visit the set often."A lot of my work was done just conversing back and forth with the business people there," says the singer, who spoke to BI to promote her latest baking mixes with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dolly-parton-78th-birthday-working-snowed-in-chocolate-cake-2024-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">Duncan Hines</a> and its parent company Conagra Brands."I have to give more people more credit on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' than me. A lot of people did so much sweat on that," she adds. "That little show did great."Parton has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bakingwithdolly.com/">five new dessert mixes</a> with Duncan Hines set to hit stores this month. A buttermilk pancake mix in collaboration with Conagra is set to hit shelves later this year.

A 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' reboot could be on the way, says producer Dolly Parton

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ben Affleck said his line in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was dubbed over with someone else's voice.</li><li>He said on "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY9fKhHu_Rc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Late Late Show with James Corden,</a>" he found out when he saw the film in theaters.</li></ul><a href="https://www.insider.com/jennifer-garner-kids-dont-watch-her-movies-watch-ben-affleck-2023-4">Ben Affleck</a> may be an Academy Award-nominated actor, but it turns out that some of his performances haven't been up to scratch. While the "<a href="https://www.insider.com/ben-affleck-matt-damon-pay-it-forward-air-screenwriter-2023-4">Air</a>" director and star has never been cut from a film across his four-decade-spanning career, he said that his turn in "<a href="https://www.insider.com/sarah-michelle-gellar-dolly-parton-uncredited-producer-buffy-vampire-slayer-2023-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a>" was "so bad" it had to be dubbed over with someone else's voice.The actor shared his "humiliating" experience as an uncredited extra in the 1992 film while appearing on "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY9fKhHu_Rc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Late Late Show with James Corden</a>."Affleck explained that he was cast as a basketball player in "the opus that inspired" the television series of the <a href="https://www.insider.com/sarah-michelle-gellar-male-toxic-set-2022-12">same name</a> starring <a href="https://www.insider.com/sarah-michelle-gellar-sued-aged-5-mcdonalds-burger-king-commercial-2023-2">Sarah Michelle Geller </a>as the titular teenage heroine. Kristy Swanson played the title character in the movie."One of my earlier parts — I had just moved out to L.A. — I got a line in a movie for a basketball player," Affleck recalled. "It was a small film called 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.'" The "Justice League" star said he had a single line of dialogue in the movie during a basketball game scene in which a werewolf or a vampire approaches him on the court and his character cowardly hands him the ball."I said, 'Take the ball!' or something like that. I thought my work was good. I was feeling it," he said. "I felt authentically afraid."However, Affleck said that he was asked to run the scene "a bunch of times," something he put down to director Fran Rubel Kuzui being "really rigorous."It wasn't until he went to check out the movie in theaters that he discovered that his delivery wasn't up to par.<div type="image" title="Ben Affleck in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)." height="1028" width="1371" msid="99560625" hostid="261" sizebytes="52366"></div>"I went and saw the movie with some friends," the actor said. "And I sounded very different."He continued: "And I realized right then that they rerecorded my lines. It was so bad, they needed me to be in the scene but the director was just like, 'I can't hear the voice again!'" "They had to pay someone to come in and say, 'Hey man, take it.' Because apparently, I couldn't say that convincingly enough."After host James Corden showed the scene in question to audiences, Affleck joked that the dubbed voice "sounds like <a href="https://www.insider.com/chris-tucker-private-jet-turn-around-meet-michael-jackson-2023-4">Chris Tucker</a>," his "Air" costar.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JY9fKhHu_Rc" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Ben Affleck says he had one line in the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie and his delivery was 'so bad' they dubbed over his voice

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e584c8ffee23d50b65b1964-2400/img1895.jpg" alt="CPAC FBI Lovebirds" /><ul class="summary-list"><li>"FBI Lovebirds," a play based on the texts between former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, opened CPAC on Thursday.</li><li>During the 2016 election, Strzok and Page were having an affair, and exchanged texts critical about then-candidate Donald Trump.</li><li>Trump and his allies have cited the texts as evidence of a "Deep State" conspiracy to keep him from winning the election, or maintaining the presidency after he won.</li><li>Dean Cain, who played Superman in the 1990s ABC show "Lois and Clark," played Stzok, while Kristy Swanson, best known for playing the titular character in the original 1992 "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" film, performed as Page.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The Conservative Political Action Conference's Thursday afternoon session kicked off with a staging of "<a href="https://t.co/GZ0sURxFsn?amp=1">FBI Lovebirds</a>," a play based on the texts between former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page that have become something of an obsession to President Donald Trump and his supporters. The controversial messages came during the 2016 election, which Trump and his allies have cited as evidence of a "<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-deep-state-book-disputes-accusations-of-trump-bias-at-fbi-doj">Deep State" conspiracy</a> to keep him from winning the election, or maintaining the presidency after he won.Strzok and Page were having an affair and exchanged messages that were critical of Trump.Among the most controversial of the texts was Strzok's response to Page's query asking if Trump could be elected. To which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-strzok-fired-fbi-anti-trump-texts-2018-8">Strzok replied</a>, "No, we'll stop it."Strzok later said the remark was "off the cuff" in a moment of anger at Trump over his insulting of deceased Army Capt. Humayun Khan's bereaved parents. Khan's father <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/khizr-khan-dnc-speech-trump-constitution-muslim-soldier-2016-7">gave a stirring speech</a> at that year's Democratic National Convention, condemning Trump's proposed "Muslim ban." During the texts with Strzok, Page also said, Hillary Clinton "just has to win now," and "This man cannot be president."The texts were made public in December 2017, and resulted in both Strzok and Page being removed from their posts as part of then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Strzok was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-strzok-fired-fbi-anti-trump-texts-2018-8">eventually fired by the FBI</a>, while Page left her position in May 2018. Page has since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lisa-page-sues-fbi-releasing-anti-trump-text-strzok-2017-2019-12">sued the FBI and the Justice Department</a> for what she says was an invasion of her privacy. At a rally in October 2019, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lisa-page-fbi-trump-fake-orgasm-rally-2019-12">Trump mocked Page</a> by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsWwNOGm9Bo&amp;feature=youtu.be">performing a fake orgasm</a> from the stage at a rally in Minneapolis. <h2>Strzok and Page were played by actors who made their names in the early 90s as "Superman" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"</h2>Dean Cain, who played Superman in the 1990s ABC show "Lois and Clark," played Stzok, while Kristy Swanson, best known for playing the titular character in the original 1992 "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" film, performed as Page. Two other actors, Bruce Nozick and Tommy Gissendanner, played composites of members of Congress who later questioned Strzok in a July 2018 congressional hearing. Both Cain and Swanson hammed it up, playing up the "smug DC elite" factor, as well as the inherent absurdity of two grown adults in national law enforcement positions reading their candid text messages allowed. The actors read from scripts with long pauses between each others "texts." The CPAC crowd seemed to enjoy the novelty of the actors announcing their emoticons ("smiley face," "wink"), acronyms (OMG) and multiple exclamation marks as part of the dialogue. But after some smatterings of applause and laughter, the energy in the room flagged, perhaps because the audience expected more steamy content and explicit plotting against Trump than the texts actually provide.One line in particular that received a lot of applause was Strzok's text reading: "Just went into a Southern Virginia Wal-Mart, I can smell the Trump support." During a Q and A session following the performance, Cain was asked how he could inhabit Strzok so well. Cain, like Swanson a vocal conservative, replied, "Well, I've played <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/scott-peterson-convicted">Scott Peterson</a>." The actors and creators also revealed they had visited with President Trump at the White House today, with Cain adding that he thought Trump had performed better than they had - an apparent reference to the fake orgasm the president used to mock Page last year. Cain added that he thinks Strzok and Page thought they were doing something that was "heroic" and "in the best interests of the country," though Cain added it was "unconstitutional." Swanson told an audience member that unlike Strzok and Page, the heroes that she and Cain previously played "weren't arrogant." Writer and director <a href="https://theapscoop.com/">Phelim McAleer</a>, who produced the documentaries' "Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer" and "FrackNation," wrote and directed the play.He told Insider after the performance, "It's a tragic love story was an international political drama, not just on top of it but running through it as well. And you've got Donald Trump." McAleer says he's looking to raise funds to stage the play for a few weeks in New York. <ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-very-stable-genius-authors-trumps-dysfunctional-white-house-2020-2">The authors of 'A Very Stable Genius' discuss Trump's rage, ignorance, and the unprecedented dysfunction of his White House </a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sinking-in-swamp-asawin-suebsaeng-lachlan-markay-trump-white-house-2020-2">The authors of a new Trump-world book 'Sinking in the Swamp' discuss the 'stupidity' of the current political era</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-does-not-respect-military-uses-them-props-2020-2">Trump doesn't really respect members of the military. He uses them as props.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bloomberg-trump-love-executive-power-strongman-soulmates-2020-2">Mike Bloomberg and Donald Trump's shared love of executive power makes them strongman soulmates</a></li></ul>

CPAC staged a play based on ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok and ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page's anti-Trump texts

<ul class="summary-list"><li>On February 27, <keyword id="6354862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trump">Trump</keyword> was briefed on the possibility that a Russian military intelligence unit may have secretly paid Taliban-linked militants to kill US and coalition forces in Afghanistan, according to a report from The New York Times.</li><li>The same day, Trump had a prolonged meeting with the producers behind a dramatized play about ex-FBI agents <keyword id="6033284" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="peter-strzok">Peter Strzok</keyword> and <keyword id="5123111" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Lisa-Page">Lisa Page</keyword>, and met with African American media personalities to discuss "community empowerment."</li><li>The White House and Trump denied that the president was briefed on the suspected Russian operation, with Trump claiming US intel "did not find this info credible" and therefore did not report the situation to him or Vice President Mike Pence.</li><li>However, three <keyword id="6371298" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="NATO">NATO</keyword> officials told Business Insider that they were briefed on the situation and the investigation into the suspected plot.</li></ul>President Donald Trump was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-briefed-about-possible-russian-bounties-us-troops-ap-nyt-2020-6">reportedly briefed on potential Russian bounty on US troops</a> in Afghanistan on February 27 — the same day he had a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/amid-coronavirus-mayhem-trump-takes-time-to-meet-with-actors-in-deep-state-play">prolonged meeting with the producers</a> behind a dramatized play about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-play-fbi-peter-strzok-lisa-page-anti-trump-texts-2020-2">ex-FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page</a>.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/us/politics/russian-bounty-trump.html#click=https://t.co/jYVpakegkZ">The New York Times</a> reported on Monday that Trump received a written briefing on the suspected Russian operation back in late February, in which a Russian military intelligence unit may have secretly offered bounties Taliban-linked militants to kill US and coalition forces in Afghanistan.One official pinpointed to The Times the date of the President's Daily Brief as February 27.<a href="https://apnews.com/425e43fa0ffdd6e126c5171653ec47d1">The Associated Press</a> also reported on the president being briefed on the possible Russian operation but offered a timeline that dated a year earlier than what was laid out by The Times.On February 27 of this year, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/amid-coronavirus-mayhem-trump-takes-time-to-meet-with-actors-in-deep-state-play">The Daily Beast</a> reported that Trump spent 45 minutes with the actors and producers behind a dramatized play depicting former FBI agent Strzok and former FBI lawyer Page, who exchanged text messages about the upcoming 2016 election while having an affair — and have become targets of Trump's ire.The low-budget conservative play, titled "FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers," debuted at <keyword id="256595" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="CPAC">CPAC</keyword> on February 27, with Strzok played by actor Dean Cain, who played Superman in the 1990s ABC show "Lois and Clark," and Page played by "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" actress Kristy Swanson."We went for a 15-minute meeting that took 45 minutes," playwright Phelim McAleer told The Daily Beast at the time. "We were there for 45 minutes in the Oval Office, and he loves it, he loves the play."Later on February 27, Trump met with African American media personalities, like Candace Owens and Diamond and Silk, to discuss "community empowerment," The Daily Beast reported. Meanwhile, the Dow took another dive the same day, amid early market fears prompted by the then-emerging coronavirus pandemic.White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence were briefed on the possible Russian operation."The United States receives thousands of intelligence reports a day, and they are subject to strict scrutiny," McEnany said during a Saturday press briefing.Trump also claimed US intel did not report the situation to him nor Pence, claiming US intel "did not find this info credible" and calling The Times' report "possibly another fabricated <keyword id="6358826" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword> Hoax."Russia has also denied the report.However, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-bounty-us-soldiers-afghanistan-nato-officials-briefed-trump-denies-2020-6">three NATO officials told Business Insider</a> that they were briefed on the suspected Russian operation."We were briefed [by the Americans] on a potential threat to our troops in Afghanistan from operatives potentially linked to the Russian intelligence services," one NATO military intelligence official said. "There is no indication that our troops — or any non-US NATO troops — have been targeted in these attacks, but all NATO services with casualties in Afghanistan over the past two years are currently checking for any connections."

Trump reportedly briefed on Russia paying militants to kill US troops the same day he had a 45-minute meeting on the dramatized CPAC play 'FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers'

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e67fbaee4f9fe1b8475fd75-1986/deancainkristyswansondonaldtrump.jpg" alt="Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson with Donald Trump at White House" /><ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider has obtained exclusive photos of Trump meeting in the White House with the actors and creators of a play based on the real-life anti-Trump texts sent between FBI employees who were having an affair. </li><li>"FBI Lovebirds" <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-play-fbi-peter-strzok-lisa-page-anti-trump-texts-2020-2">was staged at CPAC</a> on February 27, the same day as the meeting in the Oval Office, just as the coronavirus crisis was beginning to spread across the U.S.</li><li>There were 60 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the U.S. on February 27. Today there are 647, according to the CDC.</li><li>The play's writer told Insider that Trump "loved" the idea of the play and joked that he should play the role of ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>While the US was in the relatively early stages of the coronavirus crisis, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-donald-trump-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4">President Donald Trump</a> controversially held a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/amid-coronavirus-mayhem-trump-takes-time-to-meet-with-actors-in-deep-state-play">45-minute meeting</a> - originally scheduled to be just 15 minutes - with the lead actors and creators of a play about ex-FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page's anti-Trump texts.The play, "<a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bring-fbi-lovebirds-to-cpac-expose-the-hoax#/">FBI Lovebirds</a>," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-play-fbi-peter-strzok-lisa-page-anti-trump-texts-2020-2">was staged at the Conservative Political Action Conference</a> (CPAC) on February 27, the same day as the meeting in the Oval Office. At the time, there were 60 confirmed cases in the U.S. of novel coronavirus. The most recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) count is 647 nationwide. In photos exclusively obtained by Insider, Trump can be seen posing with former "Lois and Clark" actor Dean Cain, who played Strzok, and former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" actress Kristy Swanson, who played Page.Strzok and Page were having an affair during the period of the texts, which Trump and his allies have cited as evidence of a "Deep State" conspiracy against him.Among the most controversial of the messages was Strzok saying "No, we'll stop it" in response to Page's question asking whether Trump could actually be elected president. (Strzok later said the remark was "off the cuff" and in response to Trump's critical comments directed at Gold Star parents.)After the texts were made public in December 2017, Strzok and Page were removed from their posts as part of then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Strzok was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-strzok-fired-fbi-anti-trump-texts-2018-8">later fired by the FBI</a>, and Page resigned in May 2018. Trump also posed in the Oval Office with the play's writer, Phelim McAleer, and his wife and producing partner, Ann McElhinney.<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e67fbfee4f9fe1c1151cbe4-2400/phelimannmcaleertrump.jpg" alt="FBI Lovebirds CPAC play creators with Donald Trump at White House" />Trump spoke at CPAC on February 29, but he did not attend the play's performance two days earlier, and still hasn't seen it. McAleer told Insider that Trump "loved" the idea of the play and joked that he should play the role of Strzok. Cain replied in the Oval Office meeting that Trump could be his understudy. The White House did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. <ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-administration-officials-angry-about-cpac-coronavirus-email-2020-3">Current and former Trump officials say CPAC failed to offer useful coronavirus updates, leaving them confused and angry about their level of exposure</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chuck-schumer-gorsuch-kavanaugh-supreme-court-trying-act-like-trump-2020-3">Chuck Schumer blasting conservative Supreme Court justices is more proof that Democrats are trying, and failing, to copy Trump's bluster</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-democratic-establishment-savior-super-tuesday-still-flawed-candidate-2020-3">Biden was the Democratic establishment's savior on Super Tuesday, but he's still a dangerously flawed candidate</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-2020-trump-worship-hating-socialism-bullied-victim-left-2020-2">CPAC 2020 was all about worshiping Trump, hating socialism, and feeling victimized by media and the left</a></li></ul>

Photos at the White House show Trump meeting with actors in a play about the 'deep state' amid the coronavirus outbreak

<div type="image" title="Trump shushes press conference" height="2571" width="5141" msid="76733757" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>When the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> <keyword id="43587" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="pandemic">pandemic</keyword> struck, I accepted that my kids' school year was effectively over. For hope, I turned my sights to September. </li><li>Thanks to Trump's haplessly negligent response, the best-case scenarios keep getting worse, and a full schedule of in-school education looks unlikely before September 2021.</li><li>Kids only have one shot at a childhood and a primary education, and Trump has made both experiences measurably worse for an entire generation.</li><li>This is an <keyword id="6356002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="opinion">opinion</keyword> column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.</li></ul>The day everything shut down in New York City, back in March, I had the sinking feeling that the coronavirus pandemic wasn't going to be a short-term crisis. I didn't have the scientific expertise to come to this conclusion, I just had little faith in the powers that be to effectively guide the public through such uncharted waters.There was so much <a href="https://twitter.com/billdeblasio/status/1234648718714036229?lang=en">obvious cluelessness</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/lessons-for-the-coronavirus-crisis-from-six-other-disasters-11584719497">such little precedent</a>, and a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-confusing-country-misinformation-could-have-deadly-consequences-2020-3">frightening</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-inability-communicate-causing-government-coronavirus-pandemic-chaos-2020-3">vacuum</a> of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-confusing-country-misinformation-could-have-deadly-consequences-2020-3">leadership</a> at both the local and federal levels that it just didn't seem that hopeful timelines like "<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/15-days-slow-spread/">15 days to slow the spread</a>" or President <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-easter.html">Trump's fever dream</a> of re-opening the country on Easter were going to come to pass.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-new-york-ghost-town-made-mixtape-cope-2020-4">Losing everything</a> that made my expensive, stress-inducing city worth living in was tough, but even more consequential was the indefinite shuttering of schools. Though it wasn't certain at the outset, it quickly became clear that the school year — in person at least — was over and a return to classrooms in September would be a difficult, but possibly reachable goal.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-made-me-to-talk-to-my-kids-horrors-history-2020-3">Maintaining the sanity and functionality of a family of five</a> in an apartment over three months' in the virus' epicenter is not an experience I'm eager to replicate, but I still recognize I'm among the luckiest. That didn't make it hurt any less to watch my fifth-grader's realization that she'd miss out on all the "big little kid" joys that make the last few months of elementary school special, before childhood innocence is met with the maelstrom of middle school. It was mildly annoying that my second-grader would ask on a daily basis when she was going back to school, but it was miserable to realize she had eventually stopped asking.We're now much closer to September than we are to March, and the outlook has not improved.No vaccine or herd immunity is expected this calendar year. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-says-antibody-test-results-wrong-half-the-time-2020-5">antibody tests</a> are <a href="https://journalstar.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/health/covid-19-antibody-tests-not-reliable-right-now-bryan-doc-says/article_9d64a0b9-b05f-5a29-ac19-e846f88fea6e.html">still a mess</a>. And the city is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/nyregion/Coronavirus-restaurants-reopening-ny-nj.html">slowly and tentatively attempting the reopening process</a> that has gone so disastrously for other parts of the country, while definitive results of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-23/lapd-coronavirus-cases-spike-adding-to-debate-over-role-of-protests-in-spread">whether recent protests</a> were "superspreader" events <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/06/30/black-lives-matter-protests-did-not-cause-an-uptick-in-covid-19-cases">remain to be seen</a>.As the school year came to a whimpering end last week, many New York City parents were emailed tentative plans for the next school year that aren't really plans at all. School might open with a full schedule and full attendance. Or it might be in-school half the time (or less) and distance learning for the other half. Or it might be all distance learning. Helpful! I'm going to take the safe bet, which is the most pessimistic view possible, and plan accordingly. New York's partial re-opening means sidewalk cafes and haircuts are back, but for how long? Several cities and states that re-opened are just as quickly re-closing amidst a spike in COVID-19 infections. This didn't have to happen. And while <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-hero-andrew-cuomo-helped-create-new-york-disaster-2020-4">Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio</a> deserve historical infamy for their initial coronavirus responses, <keyword id="3828720" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="President-Donald-Trump">President Donald Trump</keyword>'s name is the most deserving to become synonymous with this virus.<h2>Trump's coronavirus failures are his legacy</h2>Not every federal failure is Trump's alone. Institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (<keyword id="6379474" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="cdc">CDC</keyword>) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/us/cdc-coronavirus.html">didn't cover itself in glory at the onset of the coronavirus</a>, producing faulty tests, failing in its role as an accurate data repository, and communicating mixed messages to the public. Trump, the president, distinguished himself as a failure in numerous other arenas. After <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspension-entry-immigrants-nonimmigrants-persons-pose-risk-transmitting-2019-novel-coronavirus/">suspending some travel from China</a>, he essentially wasted the entire month of February, doing little about the virus besides repeatedly insisting it was no more dangerous than the flu and that it was "under control" and soon to miraculously disappear. He did, however, find time for other much less important activities. For example, the president decided to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-play-fbi-peter-strzok-lisa-page-anti-trump-texts-2020-2">meet in the Oval Office with Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson</a>, both briefly famous for playing superhero characters in the 90s. The crucial business Trump needed to attend to while coronavirus spread across the country was talking with Cain and Swanson, the stars of a "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-play-fbi-peter-strzok-lisa-page-anti-trump-texts-2020-2">deep state"-themed play</a> staged at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that week.Besides giving <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-inability-communicate-causing-government-coronavirus-pandemic-chaos-2020-3">public addresses</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-confusing-country-misinformation-could-have-deadly-consequences-2020-3">press conferences</a> riddled with dangerously inaccurate information, about the availability of tests and the use of hydroxychloroquine as anti-COVID medication.March was another month of missed opportunities by the president, who <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1242504551468617731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1242504551468617731%7Ctwgr%5E&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2020%2F6%2F8%2F21242003%2Ftrump-failed-coronavirus-responseonse">less than two weeks after</a> the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, was already talking about reopening the country in time for Easter.He'd spend a lot of April having <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-aid-andrew-cuomo-donald-trump-treat-us-well-2020-3">political spats with Democratic governors</a>, threatening to cut off federal aid to their states unless they were nice to him. And despite his own White House's stay-at-home guidelines, he was supporting anti-lockdown protests <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1251169217531056130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1251169217531056130%7Ctwgr%5E&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2020%2F6%2F8%2F21242003%2Ftrump-failed-coronavirus-responseonse">with tweets like</a>, "LIBERATE MICHIGAN."In May he moved his attention to opposing mail-in balloting — an important issue in a presidential election year where crowds are a public health threat — despite the fact that both he and his vice president recently voted by that method. For a time he was a daily guest (via screen) in America's homes, but Dr. Anthony Fauci was almost completely sidelined in the month of June. That's because Trump has turned his attention away from keeping the public informed and toward things like moving his nomination acceptance speech to Jacksonville because the Republican National Convention's original home city, Charlotte, refused to allow a massive, indoor event to take place. He also tried to cram thousands of people into an arena in Tulsa for a campaign rally, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-yelled-aides-when-he-saw-empty-tulsa-rally-was-2020-6">they mostly stayed away</a>. A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-devotion-cronyism-getting-people-killed-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-2020-5">faithful believer in cronyism</a>, Trump put his son-in-law Jared Kushner in charge of securing personal protective equipment (PPE) for first responders and essential works, yet shortages persist to this day. Now he's taking his self-serving amorality to new lows by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/politics/donald-trump-testing-slow-down-response/index.html">freely admitting</a> that he's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-coronavirus-test-sites-ending-funding-5-states-2020-6">cutting federal funding</a> for coronavirus testing to five states <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/experts-warn-against-trumps-end-support-coronavirus-testing-sites-2020-6">because the rising positive test counts</a> are bad for him politically. And he's still so bizarrely opposed to masks that <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pressure-mounts-trump-set-good-wear-mask/story?id=71539550">even Republican senators are publicly chiding the president</a> to set a better example.And in some parts of the country that had previously remained unscathed by a breakout, new epicenters are forming. <h2>Schools out for...ever? </h2>There's no good reason to believe Trump is suddenly going to become competent, just as there's no reason to believe everything from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-decision-to-oppose-masks-bizarre-self-sabotaging-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-6">masks</a> to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/george-floyd-protests-end-coronavirus-lockdowns-permanently-police-brutality-racism-2020-6">the admissibility of the virus outdoors</a> won't be politicized in this ever-increasingly tribal country.That's why I'm preemptively accepting the next year of my kids' education will be a complete wash. They will miss out on crucial social milestones. Friendships may fray. Sports won't be played. Their intellectual growth and their educational enrichment will be stunted. As the misery of the coronavirus moment inevitably extends into an era, I'll never be able to let go of the fact that it didn't have to be this way. While there's plenty of blame to go around and some points in the crisis where the right course of action was unknowable, there were many actions that could have mitigated the tragedy experienced in the US. When I look at my bored and unstimulated kids slogging through the charade of distance learning this fall, I'll get sad. And I'll get mad and remember it didn't have to be this way. And I'll think of Trump.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/police-rioted-george-floyd-riots-justifying-protests-2020-6">Police rioted, justifying the point of the protests</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fireworks-conspiracy-theories-panic-boompilled-boompilling-government-police-2020-6">A panic over fireworks shows how quickly conspiracy theories can spread</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nypds-shake-shack-hoax-stop-taking-police-word-2020-6">Stop taking the police solely at their word</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/george-floyd-peaceful-protests-looting-riots-destruction-righteous-cause-2020-6">Destruction swings at the system, but the punch lands on peaceful protests</a></li></ul>

Coronavirus ruined my kids' school year, Trump's response has ruined next year

Se<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e5ab65dfee23d2b571062c2-2400/img1936edited.png" alt="CPAC 2020 attendees" />Anthony Fisher/InsiderTwo CPAC attendees pose with cardboard cutouts of Mike Bloomberg and Donald Trump. February 28, 2020<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was once a place of vigorous debate among right of center intellectuals. This year, however, philosophical diversity was almost non-existent.</li><li>Heretics like Mitt Romney were slammed at every opportunity, and uncritical worship of Trump was everywhere.</li><li>This year's theme was "America v. Socialism," but looming just as large was a feeling among the speakers and attendees that they and the president are under constant attack by the media and "the left."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland - The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the annual DC-area gathering, once epitomized Ronald Reagan's vision of "big-tent conservatism." That meant vigorous debates among right-of-center intellectuals representing the neoconservative foreign policy hawks, socially conservative evangelical Christians, non-interventionist free market libertarians, and any other reliable Republican voting bloc. In 2020, philosophical diversity was almost non-existent at CPAC. Save for a panel focused on tech companies' deplatforming of certain right-of-center voices - where <a href="https://twitter.com/jaredlholt/status/1233163745423187971">audience members fumed</a> at some of the panelists' suggestions that government intervention might actually be worse than "big tech censorship" - there was almost universal agreement on the big themes of the conference. These major themes of CPAC 2020 included:<ol><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-donald-trump-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4">Donald Trump</a> is the greatest president in modern history, and the way he's been treated by Democrats and the media is unprecedented and abhorrent. </li><li>Socialism is evil, and the moderate 2020 Democratic candidates are barely less socialistic than Sen. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-bernie-sanders-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-3">Bernie Sanders</a> (Vice President Mike Pence actually said "there are no moderate Democrats in this field" <a href="https://twitter.com/JonThompsonDC/status/1233093330801745920">in his Thursday CPAC speech</a>).</li><li>The "left" is comprised of snowflake crybabies, who are also authoritarian bullies systematically silencing conservatives and indoctrinating the younger generation through the media and culture. </li></ol><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e5ab2d9fee23d36d1406e33-2400/dancrenshawcpac.jpg" alt="Rep. Dan Crenshaw at CPAC 2020" /><a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rep-dan-crenshaw-speaks-on-the-fate-of-our-culture-and-our-news-photo/1208906849?adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a>U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) speaks on "The Fate of Our Culture and Our Nation Hangs in the Balance" during the CPAC Direct Action Training, February 26, 2020.<h2>The right's young stars attacked their culture war enemies ... and Mitt Romney</h2>Kicking off this year's conference, which was titled "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-conservatives-bernie-sanders-socialism-2020-2">America v. Socialism</a>," was Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, a freshman member of Congress with a rising national profile.In his <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/cpac-dan-crenshaw-socialism-fox-nation">Wednesday speech</a>, he warned of "this culture war" which he said "is going to be the battle of our times." He added that this would be a "battle between those who believe America is good and those who believe in the notion of socialist revolution who believe we are inherently bad."Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-executive-order-college-campus-free-speech-lacks-details-2019-3">an influential</a> conservative youth activist group with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/turning-point-usa-charlie-kirk-free-speech-russia-trumpism-2018-12">strong ties to the White House</a>, helped set the "small Republican" tent tenor of the proceedings. At the first mention of Mitt Romney's name, the audience booed, and <a href="https://twitter.com/alx/status/1233161273665347585">Kirk responded</a>, "Every time his name is mentioned you should react this way.""Blexit" founder Candace Owens spent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Nudmm7ha4">much of her Thursday speech</a> attacking former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick as a "race hustler." In particular, she referenced a tweet Kaepernick sent last Thanksgiving about the U.S. government's appropriation of land from indigenous people, which she countered with a long diatribe about Aztec cannibalism and human sacrifice. On Thursday, the main ballroom featured "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-play-fbi-peter-strzok-lisa-page-anti-trump-texts-2020-2">FBI Lovebirds</a>," a play starring "Lois and Clark" actor Dean Cain and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" actress Kristy Swanson as ex-FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The play consisted almost entirely of the Strzok and Page's texts to each other, but was meant to demonstrate a "Deep State " conspiracy against Trump from before the time he took office. Naomi Seibt, a 19-year-old German Youtube activist who had been invited by the Heartland Institute to speak about "climate realism" was billed as "the anti-Greta Thunberg."During a Q and A session, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anti-greta-climate-activist-naomi-seibt-fan-stefan-molyneux-cpac-2020-2">Seibt told Insider</a> that she was "absolutely" still a fan of far-right YouTuber Stefan Molyneux. She also argued that an extended statement where Molyneux expressed sympathy for white nationalism had been "taken out of context."<h2>CPAC attendees feel like they've been victimized by "the left," and so has Trump</h2><h2><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e57eddefee23d5e776e8d33-2400/img1754.jpg" alt="Donald Trump hammocks at CPAC" />Anthony Fisher/InsiderAna Villalobos and Steve Merczynski, the creators of MAGA-themed hammocks. CPAC, February 26, 2020</h2>Most of the CPAC attendees Insider spoke with said they feel like they're under a constant state of unfair attacks from "the left," just like President Trump. Jeffrey Lord, a Trump supporter and former CNN contributor, told Insider, "I just think people are seriously enthusiastic about the president on top of which they're also angry at the way he's been treated."At CPAC Central, the event's main gathering hall, vendors sold T-shirts and hats emblazoned with phrases like "Freethinkers Only," "Kiss Me I'm a Capitalist," and "This is Trump Country: Where on a Quiet Night You Can Hear a Snowflake Melting."Elizabeth Najjar, an 18-year-old student at the Jerry Falwell-founded Liberty University, told Insider that administrators at her Virginia high school had called her parents to compel her to take down a pro-Second Amendment video she had posted to her private Facebook account. She also said she had been spat upon at her school because of her political views. Najjar said she doesn't care for "CNN and MSNBC fake news." Instead she likes to get her information "from a broad amount of sources," including Fox News, the pro-Trump One America Network (OANN), and conservative YouTubers like Ben Shapiro - whose show her family will sometimes watch together after family dinners.Steve Merczynski, a 53-year-old from New York, and his partner Ana Villalobos, a native of El Salvador, are proprietors of an embroidery business. They came to CPAC to show off their MAGA-friendly hammocks. Mercyznski told Insider he just wanted to make "a present for Trump. After all that hell he was getting from the media and the Democrats and impeachment. I thought, let me make a nice hammock for him."He added that he sometimes disagrees with Trump but "I feel he gets so much abuse, I'm not gonna add to it because it's not fair. I want to see equal treatment on the other side. Cause no one's perfect." Mercyznski says he has voted for both parties in his life and went to the famously liberal Oberlin College. Still, Mercyznski added, he "hates political correctness" and found in Trump "a tough guy with a sense of humor."Villalobos told Insider that prior to 2016 she had exclusively voted Democratic since becoming a US citizen. But she went for Trump in 2016 because she agreed with his message that "the Clintons took all the jobs so way to China." She added that she wasn't offended at all by Trump's 2015 campaign launching speech where he disparaged Mexicans.Insider spotted Joyce Michaels, a 57-year-old from New York, wandering through the "CPAC Central" vendor area late Friday wearing a Project Veritas-branded hat reading: "Epstein Coverup."Michaels told Insider that "most thinking people" believe Jeffrey Epstein's death was a murder and not a suicide. (There is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-kill-himself-poll-2019-11">no evidence that Epstein's death was anything other than a suicide</a>, despite <a href="https://www.insider.com/jeffrey-epstein-death-meme-conspiracy-clinton-global-elites-deceiving-2019-11">conspiracy theories</a> involving the Democratic Clinton family signal-boosted by President Trump himself.)She added that "it seems to have international connections" and "the Clintons have their hands in everything. We all know that."<h2>"Cancelled" conservatives held their own shadow conference, and some were thrown out of CPAC</h2><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e5941ebfee23d6c85478e57-2400/img1780.jpg" alt="Alex Jones at National File event" />Anthony Fisher/InsiderAlex Jones at National File event, Washington, DC, February 27, 2020For all the complaints at CPAC about being "silenced" by "the left," there were some conservative voices who felt even more aggrieved.At a private event Wednesday night titled "Emergency Save the First Amendment Summit" held at a hotel in Washington, DC, several "cancelled" conservatives spoke before a group of about 80 attendees. Most of the speakers had either been kicked off of major tech platforms, and some were explicitly banned from attending CPAC.Emceed by InfoWars' conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the speakers included white nationalist "Groyper" leader Nick Fuentes, Vice and "Proud Boys" co-founder Gavin McInnes, and current Proud Boys chair Enrique Tarrio. Ex-Breitbart writer Lee Stranahan also spoke at the event, giving a call-and-response speech where he repeatedly exhorted the audience to shout the name of the alleged Ukraine whistleblower. Speakers railed against "mainstream" conservatives like Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk, repeated the baseless conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein's suicide, and lamented "globalist" elements that they see as hell-bent on destroying Western civilization.McInnes was <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/cpac-return-of-the-fringe/">kicked out of CPAC</a> the next day after being accused of threatening to assault an attendee. He denied the accusation. <h2>CPAC's undercard events served up "culture war victim" read meat </h2>The conservatives-as-victims-of-the-left narrative continued late into Friday with a breakout panel, "Because Trump: How the Left Justifies Acts of Violence."Controversial journalist Andy Ngo said at the panel "what we are seeing is the normalization of political violence, that's being encouraged not just by media but by politicians, leaders, people who really should know better."Scott Presler, a millennial Republican activist who made a name for himself in conservative circles for picking up trash in places like San Francsico and Baltimore and putting videos of it online, also spoke on the panel. He said "the left wants to intimidate, bully and silence us," but he added, "I'm not going to let threats of domestic terrorism stop us."Rob O'Donnell of the police advocacy non-profit group "Brothers Before Others," warned that Trump supporters soon wouldn't be able to "go to a grocery store wearing a red hat because somebody doesn't like that red hat."O'Donnell argued that the only solution to such an ominous future was to allow police to use more aggressive force. Kayla Epstein contributed reporting.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-conservatives-bernie-sanders-socialism-2020-2">Conservatives at CPAC are obsessed with Bernie Sanders, calling him a 'Marxist' who 'could win' the election</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anti-greta-climate-activist-naomi-seibt-fan-stefan-molyneux-cpac-2020-2">'The anti-Greta' climate activist Naomi Seibt says she's 'absolutely' a fan of far-right podcaster Stefan Molyneux</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-play-fbi-peter-strzok-lisa-page-anti-trump-texts-2020-2">CPAC staged a play based on ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok and ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page's anti-Trump texts</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-very-stable-genius-authors-trumps-dysfunctional-white-house-2020-2">The authors of 'A Very Stable Genius' discuss Trump's rage, ignorance, and the unprecedented dysfunction of his White House</a></li></ul> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/presidential-debate-entertaining-problem-democratic-trump-reality-tv-show-2019-9">How networks treat the Democratic debates like reality TV</a></h3> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/UKopX7aS-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;"></iframe>

You Searched For "kristy swanson" and got 8 results

Actor Kristy Swanson announces she was hospitalized for COVID-19

Erin Snodgrass

A 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' reboot could be on the way, says producer Dolly Parton

Ayomikun Adekaiyero,Tufayel Ahmed

Ben Affleck says he had one line in the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie and his delivery was 'so bad' they dubbed over his voice

Eve Crosbie

CPAC staged a play based on ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok and ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page's anti-Trump texts

Anthony L. Fisher

Trump reportedly briefed on Russia paying militants to kill US troops the same day he had a 45-minute meeting on the dramatized CPAC play 'FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers'

Lauren Frias

Photos at the White House show Trump meeting with actors in a play about the 'deep state' amid the coronavirus outbreak

Anthony L. Fisher

Coronavirus ruined my kids' school year, Trump's response has ruined next year

Anthony L. Fisher

CPAC 2020 was all about worshiping Trump, hating socialism, and feeling victimized by media and the left

Anthony L. Fisher