Matt Schlapp

Matt Schlapp
Chairman of the American Conservative Union
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 19, 2014
Preceded byAl Cardenas
White House Director of Political Affairs
In office
May 23, 2003 – February 2005
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byKen Mehlman
Succeeded bySara Taylor
Personal details
Born
Matthew Aaron Schlapp

(1967-12-18) December 18, 1967 (age 56)
Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
(m. 2002)​
Children5
EducationUniversity of Notre Dame (BA)
Wichita State University (MPA)

Matthew Aaron Schlapp (born December 18, 1967) is an American political activist and lobbyist who is chairman of the American Conservative Union.[1] He leads the lobbying firm Cove Strategies, which had strong ties to the Donald Trump administration.[2] He is also a Fox News political contributor.

Schlapp was President George W. Bush's deputy assistant and political director during Bush's first term.[3] He is married to Mercedes Schlapp, who was President Donald Trump's Director of Strategic Communications.

He was sued for $9 million for battery and defamation by a former aide to failed US Senate candidate Herschel Walker, alleging that Schlapp sexually assaulted him – groping and fondling his groin area – during a car ride several weeks before the 2022 midterm election.[4]

  1. ^ "The Hon. Matt Schlapp". American Conservative Union. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  2. ^ Williamson, Elizabeth (April 30, 2018). "Meet the Schlapps, Washington's Trump-Era 'It Couple'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  3. ^ "Team". Cove Strategies. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  4. ^ Gangel, Jamie; Krieg, Gregory; Stuart, Elizabeth (March 8, 2023). "GOP strategist comes forward publicly in sexual assault case against conservative leader Matt Schlapp". CNN. Archived from the original on August 12, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.