Ana Navarro has no love for her husband’s successor as the chair of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC). According to the hosts of “The View,” Matt Schlapp and his wife became “barnacles” on “Donald Trump’s ass” pretty quickly, and the event has suffered because of it.
Navarro’s comments came on Friday as she and her co-hosts were discussing this year’s CPAC lineup, noting that the twice-impeached former president is the biggest Republican name on the attendees list. Other major figures like Florida governor Ron DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence won’t be there, with DeSantis specifically going to a different GOP event the same weekend.
But that wasn’t overly surprising for the women at the table. According to host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who admitted she used to attend CPAC regularly, the event has become “basically a campaign contribution” for Trump, attended by “the fringe of the fringe” and “crazy of the crazy.” And to that, Navarro readily agreed.
“It was a must-do stop for any credible presidential candidate,” she recalled. “The straw poll at CPAC, those results were incredibly important. Candidates spent a ton of money, they brought in a bunch of organizations. They really campaigned for this straw poll. Now, it’s the crazy people PAC.”
Navarro reminded the table that her husband, Al Cárdenas, used to be the chair of the American Conservative Union, and thus of CPAC. She argued that he “fought really hard to make it more inclusive,” and did so without paying himself.
On the contrary, she argued, the event has become a “piggybank” for Matt Schlapp, who succeeded Cárdenas, and his wife.
“Matt and Mercedes Schlapp attached themselves like barnacles to Donald Trump’s ass, and became incredibly wealthy, and relevant, and known as a result,” Navarro said. “And they’ve gotten all the financial benefits, which means there’s only gonna be that much more.”
