OXON HILL, MD.—Early in U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech Friday to the Conservative Political Action Conference, he paused to ask the audience a question. His prepared text, he said, was “a little boring.” Would they mind if he went “off script a little bit”?In truth, he had not been very on-script even before that. What followed the crowd’s endorsement, though, was the kind of rambling, inflammatory, oft-inaccurate, and captivating discursion he performed at his 2016 campaign rallies.He even brought back some of his campaign’s greatest hits: mockery of Hillary Clinton, graphic descriptions of crimes committed by Latino gang members, and a dramatic reading of the lyrics to “The Snake,” a song he uses as an allegory for how dangerous immigrants are.It is impossible to do the speech justice by summarizing a few key points. Here is a minute-by-minute account of what happened:10:17 a.m. — Trump notes that he once faced skepticism about his conservative credentials. “I think now we’ve proved that I’m a conservative, right?” The audience applauds heartily.10:18 — Trump notices his image on a big screen to the left of the stage. He gives himself a compliment.“By the way, what a nice picture that is. Look at that. I’d love to watch that guy speak.”People laugh. Then he turns around and pats his hair. Then he does some rare self-deprecation.“That’s a — I try like hell to hide that bald spot, folks. I work hard at it. It doesn’t look bad. Hey, we’re hanging in.”10:21 — There is a protester. He is escorted out. Trump calls him “very obnoxious” and then “very nice.” 10:24 — Trump reiterates his theory of midterm elections: happy supporters of the president are less motivated to vote, “so you end up not doing that well because the other side is going — they’re crazed. ...
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