The strange Republican world where the big lie lives on and Trump is fighting to save democracy

Welcome to the the grassroots CPAC summit, where conservatives see themselves not as dismantlers of democracy, but as saviors

On stage in a hotel ballroom glowing red, white and blue, Ron DeSantis was recalling his days in Congress and a book he wrote about America's troubles. It was read by about a dozen people," the Florida governor said with rare self-deprecation.

DeSantis then told a gathering of grassroots conservatives on Thursday: I look back at that time, it almost seems a little quaint to me because the threats we face to freedom, the threats we face to a just society, are much more pervasive than they were just 10 years ago."