Matt Schlapp

Matthew Aaron "Matt" Schlapp (born December 18, 1967) 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.

Schlapp grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and is the son of Susan Schlapp, a Wichita City councilwoman. He started his education at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Wichita. He then continued at Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School, a private school in Wichita from which he graduated in 1986. He attended the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a Bachelor's degree, and Wichita State University, where he earned a Master's degree in Public Policy.

Schlapp began his political career in 1994, working for five years as a press secretary, campaign manager, and chief of staff for Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.). Schlapp joined George W. Bush’s 2000 political campaign, serving as a regional political director with oversight of Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas and Oklahoma.

During his tenure at the White House as George W. Bush’s political director, Schlapp advised the President, the 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 the major federal public policy strategies on anti-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.

As part of Schlapp's lobbying work, he is paid $200,000 per year by Abbott Labs and Walmart, and $120,000 a year by Comcast. He was formerly paid $200,000 a year by Verizon; however, in light of Schlapp's comments on the George Floyd protests, Verizon ended this contract in June 2020. Abbott Labsand Comcasthave followed suit.

Schlapp married Mercedes (Mercy) Viana Schlapp, whom he met while they both worked at the White House, where she was the director of specialty media. Together 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. He is a Catholic.