In a rather bizarre turn of events, Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union and organizer of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), reportedly sought the services of a Catholic priest to perform an exorcism at CPAC’s offices. This peculiar incident came in the wake of the resignation of several CPAC staffers who expressed dissatisfaction with their compensation.
According to Roger Sollenberger, a senior political reporter at the Daily Beast, who cited information from “multiple people with knowledge of the exorcisms,” the Catholic priest conducted a ritual in which he sprinkled holy water throughout the CPAC premises and extended blessings to all staff, regardless of their religious beliefs. In addition to these actions, the priest affixed medallions above the office doors, intended to ward off malevolent spirits. Astonishingly, the Daily Beast reported that these medallions are still present in CPAC’s offices a year after the exorcism took place.
The priest also “placed a medallion above doors in the offices” to “ward off evil spirits.”
The decision to organize such an unusual event was attributed to Schlapp, who, according to an unnamed source, described the exorcism as “the weirdest thing I’d seen.” The exorcism occurred following the departure of several staffers who had resigned due to salary disputes.
In an unexpected response, Matt Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, vehemently criticized the Daily Beast for reporting on the exorcism. Mercedes Schlapp, in a tweet, accused the news outlet of being aligned with Satan and claimed that the Daily Beast’s focus on exorcisms was diverting attention from pressing societal issues, such as the opioid crisis, human trafficking, and rising crime rates. She referred to the Daily Beast as “a joke.”
Matt Schlapp’s publicist also weighed in, characterizing CPAC as a target of terrorization by a self-described demon, referring to the Daily Beast. However, these responses did little to change the narrative surrounding the exorcism.
In an unfortunate twist for Schlapp, the exorcism did not appear to alter his fortunes, as he faced accusations just a few months later, in January 2023. A Republican staffer filed a lawsuit against Schlapp, alleging that he had sexually assaulted him by inappropriately touching his groin without consent during an incident. This accusation further complicated Schlapp’s public image and legal standing.
