In its first extended segment about this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, Fox News on Thursday also broached another subject that has largely been avoided on its airwaves in recent weeks: CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp’s groping allegations.
Ever since The Daily Beast first reported in January that a male staffer for GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker had accused Schlapp of grabbing his “junk” and “pummeling it at length,” the American Conservative Union president has been persona non grata on Fox airwaves. Prior to the scandal, Schlapp had been a frequent presence on the conservative network, appearing dozens of times in the past year.
Besides banning him from the network, Fox News has also virtually ignored the allegations against Schlapp, only publishing one online report and not mentioning on air the accusations or subsequent lawsuit filed by the accuser. On top of that, Fox News has taken a very muted approach to covering CPAC this year, especially compared to its symbiotic relationship with the right-wing confab in the past.
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During Thursday’s broadcast of America Reports, fill-in anchor Jacqui Heinrich brought on Fox News contributor Byron York to discuss the spate of 2024 GOP presidential contenders who have decided to skip this year’s CPAC. At the same time, the broadcast featured a live shot of the event, which featured Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) taking part in a panel.
For the most part, the segment was framed around “dueling” high-profile GOP events this week, with the anti-tax group Club for Growth holding a Florida retreat for its donors at the same time as CPAC. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other high-profile Republicans are scheduled to speak at the Club for Growth’s event while bypassing CPAC. Former President Donald Trump, who was not invited to attend the Club for Growth’s retreat, will headline CPAC this weekend.
After talking about how the two events represent a “divide” within the Republican Party between MAGA loyalists and Republicans who want to move on from Trump, Heinrich wondered what to make of the “potential candidates skipping out on CPAC,” which also includes Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
“It’s not all the Trump-DeSantis divide,” York replied. “There’s also a lot of controversy about Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Conservative Union, which puts on CPAC.”
He added: “There’s allegations against him of sex harassment, and so perhaps some figures are avoiding that whole situation. But basically, the bigger picture here is the divide inside the Republican Party.”
Prior to the Schlapp scandal, Fox News not only provided extensive coverage of CPAC, but its stars were usually a featured attraction at the conservative gathering. Additionally, the network’s digital streaming platform Fox Nation was a “Featured Sponsor” of the event in recent years, donating $250,000 to help underwrite the event in 2021. This year, Fox Nation isn’t even offering subscribers a livestream.
With Fox News relegating CPAC to the back burner, Schlapp has lashed out at “fake journalists” who have made him a “victim” by “pushing this leftist agenda and lying,” referencing reports about the sexual assault allegations.
“This media will take any charge and run with it if they can destroy a Republican or a Trump supporter or conservative,” the CPAC leader proclaimed. “That’s what we have in this country.”
The Daily Beast, which was the first to report on the accusations, did not receive CPAC press credentials this year.
