Donald Trump speaking at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, in June 2016 (Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons)

After considerable initial skepticism about Donald Trump’s conservative credentials, the Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC, has come to embrace him.

Trump earned just 3 percent in a 2015 CPAC presidential straw poll and was a lightening rod at the 2016 event, as conservatives gathered to seek an alternative candidate, the Washington Times noted in a feature report.

But three years later, all is forgiven, with CPAC thriving off its connections to Trump.

The Times reported the leader of the calls for a walkout during Trump’s 2016 address is now an enthusiastic supporter.

“I love the guy,” said William Temple, who now speaks of Trump in comparison to Winston Churchill and Gen. George Patton.

“I think, ‘Who do I know has this much energy? Who has accomplished this many of his promises in less than two years?’ I’m saying, ‘Why would we ever elect a professional politician to anything?'” Temple told the Washington Times.

The speaker’s list is filled with White House and administration officials, and the president’s appearances are the anchor of the three-day gathering, which began Thursday.

The Times said some never-Trumpers remain “and perhaps some have faded away, most have been converted and show the zeal that comes with such conversions.”

Radio host John Fredericks, who was Virginia chairman for Trump’s campaign in 2016, told the Times that Republicans must get behind Trump’s populist-nationalism or be left behind.

“If you’re a never-Trumper, then the spectacle of Trump’s CPAC is going to convince you that your forlorn party of wars, open borders, big donors and Wall Street has finally come to an end,” he said.

Most of the former opposition to Trump centered on his brash personality and scorched-earth approach to politics along with liberal positions on gun control and abortion rights.

Trump’s ridicule of conservative favorites such as Sen. Ted Cruz, didn’t help. But the president has won over Cruz supporters now that his wicked wit is trained on liberals.

“I love Ted Cruz, and I have always been behind Ted Cruz — he is a conservative giant,” said Ann Eubank, a Cruz delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention.

“He would not have been able to do what Donald Trump has done simply because Ted Cruz would not have acted that way.”

Eubank, the Times reported, said Trump has “popped” the Washington bubble and tackled issues Republicans have dodged or failed to make headway on.

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