American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp discussed the prospect of his wife becoming White House communications director and media strategy, in a Thursday morning interview on WMAL DC.
“At some point CNN is going to … have the scoop that Mercedes Schlapp is the new communications director at the White House,” WMAL host and Daily Caller editorial director Vince Coglianese chided Schlapp, telling Schlapp to give him the exclusive announcement on air instead.
Schlapp laughed at Coglianese’s question noting that his first responsibility was to keep his job as husband but agreed with the premise of the question saying “Why does the White House break so much news with their enemies?”
“My guess whoever they pick for this new communications director is going to be very sensitive to that.”
Schlapp’s wife Mercedes is currently serving as White House director of strategic communications and is considered a leading contender for the job of communications director after Hope Hicks’ shocking Wednesday resignation. “I’d be surprised if it wasn’t Mercedes,” a Republican close to the administration told The Daily Beast.
Schlapp was also listed on Axios’s list of potential replacements for Hicks noting that she “is a veteran of the George W. Bush administration and has been involved in long-range communications planning.”