In previous years, Matt Schlapp’s remarks earlier than the Conservative Political Motion Convention have been hardly the principle draw. However on Thursday morning, the in any other case routine, compulsory ramblings from the person throwing the social gathering have been instantly the focus. Schlapp—who has for years run the American Conservative Union, the group behind CPAC—has spent most of this yr battling a sexual-misconduct allegation leveled in opposition to him by a male staffer who labored on Herschel Walker’s failed Senate marketing campaign. (He has vehemently denied the allegation.)
Unsurprisingly, Schlapp didn’t deal with the looming problem onstage. He additionally refused to reply to questions on it posed by an MSNBC columnist in a CPAC hallway, together with his aide calling the allegations “faux information.”
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Talking earlier than a lackadaisical crowd filed right into a half-full conference corridor, Schlapp as a substitute attacked the press, calling “good journalists…a uncommon factor,” and questioned how democracy can survive in a rustic that has “leftist media…out to assault every one in all you each single day, however extra necessary than that, they’re feeding you lies.” To make sure, lashing out on the press is widespread follow at each CPAC, however Schlapp’s remarks come on the heels of quite a few stories a couple of sexual-misconduct allegation, basic dysfunction on the ACU, and the convention dropping its luster post-Trump.
Nonetheless, Schlapp did deal with reporting on CPAC’s failure to land Governor Ron DeSantis and former vp Mike Pence, two main 2024 shadow candidates. “There’s quite a lot of chatter within the media about who’s right here and never right here,” he mentioned whereas sharing the stage with Home Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan. “I’m actually proud to be standing alongside somebody I believe may simply be essentially the most highly effective man in Washington, DC.”
Within the lead-up to the convention, Schlapp threatened to “go somewhat bit Hungarian” on the media, referencing the nation’s animosity towards unfriendly press. “I don’t name it press or media ’trigger they’re not—the left-wing activists that wish to assume they’re media,” he mentioned final month. “I don’t know why we’re letting them come into our home yearly to allow them to beat the hell out of us and mislead us.” One of many outfits focused in his “Hungarian” strategy was apparently the Each day Beast. After being the primary to report on the Schlapp allegation in January, the outlet was rewarded by seemingly being banned from this yr’s CPAC.
Offstage, Schlapp’s maintain over CPAC, the biggest annual right-wing gathering, seems to be loosening. In a remark to The Washington Submit, ACU board member Morton Blackwell famous that the Schlapp scandal can be addressed throughout a board assembly held initially of CPAC, which kicked off on Wednesday. “It’s not possible for it to be ignored,” he instructed the outlet, earlier than including, “Clearly it’s a critical allegation, nevertheless it’s put ahead anonymously, which tends to discredit it.” Nonetheless, for essentially the most half, the board seems to be largely on Schlapp’s facet, with the Submit noting that two longtime members mentioned that they “consider this newest try at character assassination is fake.”
Other than inner bickering inside the ACU, the Submit additionally reported that CPAC skilled a decline in ticket gross sales this yr, together with from rich patrons who sometimes buy its most costly choices, main organizers to supply value cuts and particular reductions. Nevertheless, Carolyn Meadows, CPAC’s second vice chairman, tried to push again on the report, saying, “CPAC conferences are extensively attended by 1000’s of activists from throughout the globe, with tens of millions of extra viewers who watch CPAC content material on-line.” She additionally {accused} the paper of searching for to “silence a distinguished conservative voice.”
In January, Schlapp’s accuser, who has sought to stay nameless, filed a $9.4 million battery and defamation lawsuit in opposition to the conservative magnate, per the Submit. In filings associated to the case, Schlapp acknowledged that he visited two bars together with his accuser on the evening of the alleged incident, however insisted the remainder of the staffer’s account was false.
The allegation was first reported by the Each day Beast in early January, however CPAC was seemingly making ready for a storm weeks earlier. In December, after the staffer admonished Schlapp on social media, CPAC demanded that every one of its workers signal nondisclosure agreements that may value violators $25,000, in accordance with the Submit, which obtained a replica of the doc and spoke to people acquainted with the matter.
