Don’t fret: World War III isn’t looming. It’s already here, according to the title of a panel on a schedule released this week for the Conservative Political Action Conference, commonly referred to as CPAC.
The talk, set for 12:10 p.m. EST Thursday, was officially titled “When Did WWIII Begin? Part A: Threats at Home.” There didn’t appear to be a Part B or C on the schedule at CPAC.
The talk was scheduled to be moderated by Ginni Thomas of the conservative news site The Daily Caller. It was due to feature David Clarke, the sheriff of Milwaukee County; Clare Lopez, the vice president for research and analysis at the Center for Security Policy; Trevor Loudon, a filmmaker and writer; and Maureen Ohlhausen, the commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission.
Huffington Post reporter Christina Wilkie surfaced the event on Twitter Tuesday, writing, “Strangest @CPAC panel so far: ‘When Did World War 3 Begin?’ Sheriff Clark, the @FTC chair, and two Sharia law conspiracy theorists.”
Loudon created a film called “Enemies Within” that claimed there was a vast conspiracy between Muslims and communists to infiltrate the American government.
“We have four years — the most important four years of our lives — to redouble the efforts [to save the Western world],” he said this month about a Trump presidency, according to the Washington Post. “If we blow it, our kids live in slavery. If we succeed, we can have a new golden age, not just in America, but all over the world.”
Lopez, a former CIA operative, has described beliefs similar to those of Loudon and said tactics employed by former Wisconsin Republican Joseph McCarthy — who led the witch hunt for communists in government in the ’50s — should be used now for Muslim officials.
Clarke, a Trump supporter who often appears on television, has regularly stirred up controversy. He’s previously said that he was “through trying to understand the sick ideology of Islamism” and suggested stepping up policing and surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods.
CPAC 2017 is set to feature nearly every conservative leader of note, including President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Stephen Bannon.
It was unclear what direction, exactly, the World War III panel will take, but Trump himself has already brought up the idea of a third world war. He referenced it last month and claimed Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would spark the eventual conflict. The two senators had criticized Trump’s executive order temporarily barring entry into the U.S. for people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
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