The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) exhibition hall for the 2024 event includes a variety of merchandise, trinkets and even a twist on the traditional pinball game.
The virtual pinball game, created by entrepreneur Jonathan Linowes, features photos from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, former President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally earlier in the day, along with graphics of the U.S. Capitol and media networks MSNBC, Fox News and CNN.
The game can be played over several modes, including “Stop the Steal,” “Fake News,” “Peaceful Protest,” “It’s a Setup,” “Babbitt Murder” — a reference to the Jan. 6 rioter who was shot and killed by police after trying to climb barriers at the Capitol — “Have Faith” and “Political Prisoners.” As you play each mode, videos from the insurrection play on a screen above.
A pinball machine themed around the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol is featured at CPAC 2024 at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. (Miranda Nazzaro)
Linowes told The Hill he hopes the game can “reach an audience” of those who are not ordinarily political.
“I’m in the tech world, and it’s very sort of left leaning; I would go to tech events and hear people say things, and I would basically have to self censor myself,” Linowes said Thursday. “But after the 2020 election, I decided that … I didn’t want to really keep quiet anymore, and … I make games, so I decided to make this ‘J6’ that explains a lot of the truth of what happened in J6.”
He claimed he also posted the free software for the game on websites for enthusiasts, but was later banned because platforms said they did not “want any terrorists” on their website.
Other items nodding to conservative messaging were offered in the exhibit hall as well, including “Woke Tears Water” bottles, bedazzled guns and candy with the label, “Make America Great Again.”
CPAC kicked off its second day Thursday, featuring a series of Republican speakers including Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.), Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) and Lara Trump — the daughter-in-law of Trump and his pick for co-chair of the Republican National Conference (RNC).
The event will run through Saturday, with other high-profile Republicans expected to deliver remarks, including the former president, Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), as well as Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) and Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake.
More than 1,100 people have been charged in nearly every state since the Jan. 6 riots on the Capitol, according to the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office.
The Hill’s Cate Martel contributed.