SARAH SILBIGER
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 the accusations or subsequent lawsuit filed by the accuser on air. 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.