Matt Schlapp speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo credit: Gage Skidmore)
CPAC chair Matt Schlapp drew widespread mockery online Friday after posting a photo of himself at his group’s gala with Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was pushed out as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Greece last month amid misconduct allegations.
“Great to have Ambassador Guilfoyle with us at our gala,” Schlapp wrote on X. “She bought this beautiful painting of Mercy which she also generously gave to her. We love her and Magaangelo the artist!”
The photo shows Schlapp in a white dinner jacket alongside Guilfoyle and other guests, posed in front of a large painting of a woman’s face covered in an American flag pattern. One woman beside the painting wears a red, white and blue dress painted in the same style but with Trump's face woven in.
The post comes days after CPAC kicked off its “Gathering of Visionaries” at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, an event with ticket packages priced at up to $95,000. As Raw Story previously reported, critics said the event could funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to the president. A top Florida Republican told HuffPost that “the Schlapps are horrific grifters.”
Guilfoyle, the former fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., resigned as ambassador to Greece in October after the White House asked her to step down. That followed a report that she had asked a donor to pay a $100,000 credit card bill. She has denied wrongdoing and said she would “vigorously defend” herself against the allegations.
Critics, including several on the right, quickly piled on.
“The Mar-a-Lago aesthetic of plastic surgery, cartoon-sized American flags, Trump print dresses, Palm Beach décor, and the work of the renowned artist ‘MagaAngelo’ will be studied for centuries,” wrote conservative activist Christopher Rufo. “Art historians must begin preservation efforts now. The Impressionism of our time.”
Conservative journalist Emerald Robinson called the image “the whole TrumpWorld grift in one photo,” accusing those pictured of “celebrating crazy ex-girlfriends who nearly destroyed a sovereign nation over personal credit card bills.”
“Hang it in the Louvre,” she added.
“‘Let Them Eat Cheesecake’ in one image,” wrote conservative commentator Scott Greer.
“Look, everyone, we got a solid two days of solemn dignity. It was more than we could have hoped for, really,” wrote conservative writer Emily Zanotti.
Matthew Sitman, co-host of the “Know Your Enemy” podcast, called the photo “a rich text.”
New York Times reporter Shawn McCreesh wrote: “A picture worth a thousand words.”
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