Editor’s Note: Party People is a new podcast from CNN where a pair of conservative CNN contributors talk to influential voices about the future of conservatism and the Republican party.
Story highlights
The American Conservative Union chairman said he sees the good in Donald Trump's angry followers
Matt Schlapp said he's upset establishment Republicans by skipping the "This Town" primary
American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp defended supporters of Donald Trump, saying he’s “disgusted by the judgment” Washington Republicans have had for the GOP presidential nominee and his supporters.
“I am disgusted by the judgment of this town over good people who love this country,” Schlapp told CNN’s “Party People” podcast hosts Kevin Madden and Mary Katherine Ham in a conversation last week. “Are they off-track sometimes? Yes, but you’re not going to get to a place where we have consensus by judging them.”
Schlapp said Republicans run the risk of turning off voters by “moralizing” too much when it comes to the party’s standard-bearer.
“What I’ve seen from Trump as a candidate is that he’s surrounded himself with good conservatives and he’s learning as he goes,” he said. “Now that’s frustrating to some people who say he should have learned it 30 years ago and he should be an expert now, but that’s not the situation we’re in.”
Schlapp criticized establishment GOP leaders for being upset over Trump’s ascendance to the nomination without building relationships in Washington.
“And then he runs for president and did something that’s never happened before: He skipped this town,” Schlapp said, a reference to the colloquial “this town” label placed on establishment party figures in Washington. “That’s the first primary every four years is you go to this town –”
“– and he’s probably going to get crushed,” Madden added, a reference to Trump’s recent struggles in national and key battleground state polls.
Schlapp said he sees the positive in the millions of Americans who’ve expressed anger and frustration with the way Washington is run.
“I almost look at all this frustration, anger, concern out there in the country, I thank God for it,” Schlapp said. “I mean, people still love their country and they want what’s best for their country. Sometimes they don’t always express it in the most sophisticated ways but I love the passion. I think it’s a positive.”
To hear whether he thinks Democrats and Republicans can be friends and how he liked to watch C-SPAN in grammar school, listen to CNN’s “Party People,” a new podcast from CNN where a pair of conservative CNN contributors talk to influential voices about the future of conservative politics and the Republican party.
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