Matt Schlapp


Matthew Aaron "Matt" Schlapp is an American political activist and lobbyist who is chairman of the American Conservative Union, the oldest conservative lobbying organization in the country. He leads the lobbying firm of Cove Strategies. 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. He is married to Mercedes Schlapp, who was President Donald Trump's Director of Strategic Communications.

Early life and education

Raised in Wichita, Kansas, Matt Schlapp is the son of Susan Schlapp, a former city councilwoman who, after eight years of service on the Wichita City Council, became senior constituent liaison for the Kansas Department of Commerce under Governor Sam Brownback.
Schlapp's early schooling began at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Wichita, and in 1986, he graduated from Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School. He earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame, and went on to earn a Master's degree in public policy from Wichita State University.

Political career

Schlapp began his political career in 1994, and worked five years as a press secretary, campaign manager, and chief of staff for Representative Todd Tiahrt. He also worked on the 2000 political campaign of George W. Bush, serving as a regional political director with oversight of Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas and Oklahoma.
During the George W. Bush administration, he served as political director, and advised the President, Vice President, members of the cabinet, senior White House staff and had extensive contact with members of Congress and federal agencies.
In 2004, Schlapp became a lobbyist at Koch Industries, headquartered in his hometown of Wichita, Kansas. In his role as vice president of federal affairs at Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC, he directed federal public policy strategies on environmental and energy policies, financial markets, legal reform, and international and domestic tax issues.
On June 19, 2014, Schlapp was unanimously elected chairman of the American Conservative Union.
In 2020, Schlapp made controversial comments regarding the George Floyd protests that began on May 26. He alleged that Black Lives Matter was "...hostile to families, capitalism, cops, unborn life and gender." As part of his lobbying work, Schlapp had been paid $200,000 per year by Verizon and Abbott Labs, and $120,000 a year by Comcast. Due to his remarks, Verizon ended his contract in June 2020, Abbott Labs came under criticism for using Cove Strategies and Schlapp as a lobbyist despite Abbott's professed commitment to social justice, and consequently cut its ties with Schlapp. Comcast followed suit.

Personal life

Schlapp married Mercedes Viana Schlapp, whom he met while they both worked at the White House, where she was the director of specialty media. They co-founded Cove Strategies, a communications and political consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia. From September 2017 to July 2019, she served as Director of Strategic Communications in the Trump administration. Since July 2019, she has worked on the Trump 2020 re-election campaign.
The couple have five daughters.