The Western Conservative Summit (WCS) has a fourteen-year history of hosting conservative political celebrities and giving platforms to prominent faces and organizations of the conservative movement across the United States. Notable attendees have included Senator Cory Gardner and former president, Donald Trump.
In an interview with Jeff Hunt, who directs the Centennial Institute, which runs the WCS, the Chancellor of the Colorado Christian University, Dr. Donald Sweeting, discussed his initial thoughts on this year’s gathering, which occurred earlier this month.
“Every summit is very different depending upon the political winds that are blowing and the state of our culture– the need of the hour. So this one was sobering,” he said on the podcast. “I think that’s probably the one word I would use to describe it.
“Sobering at the challenges facing us in the rapid changes that are coming at us.”
Sweeting, whose university houses the Centennial Institute, would assert an addendum later in the interview with a more optimistic viewpoint in reference to his analysis of high attendance to the summit, the sensation of Conservative discontent, and the encouragement of the conservative community across Colorado, “You [attendees] realize you’re not alone in the fight.”
Still, the 2023 Summit occurred during a tumultuous time for Colorado and national politics: Congresswoman Lauren Bobert was absent during the U.S debt ceiling vote and Trump’s indictment charges were unmentioned by his running opponent, Asa Hutchinson, but he would later give an interview to CNN calling for Trump to drop the race.
Hunt agreed, in part, with Dr. Sweeting’s analysis of a sobering conference.
“I think the number one emotion I ran into prior to the summit — so with regards to talking with our sponsors, elected officials, attendees, speakers — was exhaustion, was just kind of being beat up when they walked in the door Friday morning.”
