HEATED INTERACTION between Taylor Townsend & Jelena Ostapenko after 2nd Round match | 2025 US Open

Conservative activist and lobbyist Matthew Schlapp was left speechless Friday after attempting to “hype up” the crowd at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) conference in Texas, only for the effort to backfire spectacularly.

“How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?” Schlapp asked the massive crowd at the annual conservative event.

To Schlapp’s surprise, a wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.

“No,” Schlapp responded, shaking his head and smiling awkwardly. “That was the wrong answer. Let me try it again: how many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?”

Schlapp’s second attempt garnered a more mixed response, with some still cheering while others booed.

Schlapp again laughed off the unexpected response.

“Can someone bring some coffee out for the people at CPAC?” he said.

CPAC was founded in 1974, with President Ronald Reagan delivering the organization’s first-ever inaugural keynote speech. It’s held regular annual conferences in years since, with President Donald Trump delivering a speech at the organization’s conference in 2024.

Schlapp, 58, has long been involved in Republican politics, having served as President George W. Bush’s deputy assistant. Schlapp previously served as CPAC’s chair, and currently runs a lobbying firm with close ties to the Trump administration.

MS NOW host Catherine Rampell took a sharp jab at President Donald Trump on Sunday for skipping the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) convention for the first time in nearly a decade, suggesting he did so to avoid embarrassing optics tied to his “obsession” with crowd sizes.

“If we know anything about Donald Trump, it is his obsession with a handful of fairly specific things: gold plating, the Village People, and of course, crowd sizes. So you can only imagine how he must feel seeing this split screen,” Rampell said on MS NOW’s “The Weekend Primetime,” queuing up a split-screen video of the massive No Kings rallies and the CPAC event in Texas.

“On the left side, you have the absolutely massive No Kings day protests which took over small towns, big cities all over the place, all around the world. Organizers say at least eight million people showed up. And then on the right side of your screen you have CPAC. Womp, womp. Notice a difference?”

This year’s CPAC conference notably does not have either Trump or any of his children speaking at the event, often a strong draw for conservatives to attend the event. Turnout appears to have suffered as a result, Mother Jones reported.

“It’s sh----,” said GOP delegate Warner Kimo Sutton of the event’s turnout, speaking with Mother Jones. “Last time this place was packed.”