Mitch McConnell wins CPAC 2014 by strolling on stage with a gun

The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual, insular gathering for Republicans to talk amongst themselves about the evils of big government and their ideas for fixing it. It's a multi-day festival of dogmatic red meat — "Abolish the IRS!" — in which GOP lawmakers and luminaries rile up the party base and tout their conservative cred.

Here, a representative picture from this year's gathering:

That's Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) presenting retiring Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) with a gun — reportedly a lifetime achievement award from the NRA — on CPAC's opening day. In his remarks, McConnell would then claim that President Obama was "treating the Constitution worse than a placemat at Denny's."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In case you were wondering: yes, McConnell is facing a primary challenge this year.