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

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."

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

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.