In 2014, CPAC extended an invitation to American Atheists, which was immediately withdrawn on the same day due to controversial statements by AA's president David Silverman, who declared his group was going to "enlighten conservatives" and that "the Christian right should be threatened by us".

[13] In December 2016, CPAC extended a speaking invitation to conservative blogger Milo Yiannopoulos, despite his history of controversial views on feminism, racial minorities, and transgender issues.

[15] Richard Spencer, a figurehead of the alt-right and a white supremacist, entered the lobby of the Gaylord National Hotel on February 23, 2017, in an attempt to access CPAC.

Organizers of the conference ejected him from the hotel as soon as his presence was discovered, citing his "repugnant [views which] ... have absolutely nothing to do with conservatism or what we do here" as cause for rejecting his admission to CPAC.

[17][18] Media members across the political spectrum condemned the intrusion as yet another attempt by groups like the alt-right to conceal their extremist views within a legitimate philosophy.

Opinion columns in The New York Times, and articles in Mother Jones and Rolling Stone voiced concern about the 2017 interview of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former Trump Chief-of-Staff Reince Priebus with ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp, advocating for the American Right to reject the tenets of the alt-right, including homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, and racism.

[19][20][21] The 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference was held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, from February 27 to March 2, 2019.

Senator Ted Cruz, Representatives Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Doug Collins, and Mark Meadows had recent contact with the patient, who remained unnamed; none of whom would go on to test positive immediately after the event.

"[27] The conference's theme, "America Uncancelled", sought to highlight alleged attempts by social media companies, the Democratic Party, U.S. universities and progressive organizations to censor conservatives' public expression of their political views.

Speakers included Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Arizona Republican Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and many congressional representatives.

"[42] Knowles' comments were criticized by several political media figures, including civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo, describing them as genocidal.

[45] Longtime CPAC board member and vice-chair Charlie Gerow resigned in August 2023, calling for investigations of Matt Schlapp and the organization's financial practices.

Speakers included Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ben Carson, Steve Bannon, Nigel Farage, Liz Truss, Javier Milei, Nayib Bukele, Santiago Abascal, deposed Catholic bishop Joseph Strickland, as well as Senators and Members of Congress.

[49][50][51] Politico noted that CPAC had been diminished due to the previous year's scandals involving Matt Schlapp and belief that the conference had "come to be seen as a mere adjunct of Trumpism".

[51] During an event at CPAC on February 23, alt-right commentator Jack Posobiec made a speech that was widely covered in the media, in which he stated, "Welcome to the end of democracy – we're here to overthrow it completely.

"[52][53][54][55] The event notably featured several neo-Nazis who were able to secure official CPAC badges to walk the show floor and were not ejected unlike previous years.

Speakers included Argentinian President Javier Milei, Lara Trump, Kari Lake, Santiago Abascal, Agustín Laje, Patricia Bullrich, Ben Shapiro, Eduardo Verástegui, Rafael López Aliaga, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Luis Caputo and Eduardo Bolsonaro, with video messages by: Steve Bannon, Jair Bolsonaro and Maria Corina Machado.

Attendees included Tony Abbott, Eric Abetz, Katherine Deves, Nigel Farage, Jacinta Price and Amanda Stoker.

[103] The first CPAC in Brazil took place on October 11–12, 2019, in the city of São Paulo, attended by leading American conservatives including ACU chairman Matt Schlapp and his wife Mercedes Schlapp, Utah senator Mike Lee, Fox News specialist Walid Phares, as well as Brazilian figures including President Jair Bolsonaro's son Eduardo Bolsonaro, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo, and the Prince Imperial of Brazil Bertrand Maria José de Orléans e Bragança and others.

[106][107] In September 2021, Jason Miller, a former senior adviser to Donald Trump, and other American right-wing media personalities in his traveling party, were detained and questioned for three hours at Brasília International Airport following participation in the 2021 CPAC Brazil Conference.

The investigation was part of an inquiry by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes into misinformation allegedly perpetuated by the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro.

[111][112][113] Speakers included Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán; Spain's Vox party leader Santiago Abascal; Eduardo Bolsonaro; right-wing US commentator Candace Owens; Ernst Roets, the Deputy CEO of AfriForum;[114] and former US White House chief of staff Mark Meadows,[115] as well as far-right US conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec and Hungarian journalist Zsolt Bayer.

They include ACU chairman Matt Schlapp and executive director Dan Schneider, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, U.S.

Taiwanese Finance Minister and WTO ambassador Ching-Chang Wen [zh], journalist Sara Carter, then-SEC commissioner Michael Piwowar, Asia expert and commentator Gordon G. Chang, to name just a few.

Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States K. T. McFarland, Asia expert and commentator Gordon G. Chang, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, Founder of the New Institute Andrew Crilly, Fox News Contributor Sara A. Carter, Professor of law at Handong International Law School Eric Enlow, Professor emeritus at Yonsei University Kim Dong-gil, Fmr.