Mercedes Schlapp: Uniting the Hispanic World in the Fight for Freedom at CPAC Mexico 2024

Mercedes Schlapp is an American political strategist with a broad career in both the public and private sectors. She currently serves as Executive Advisor for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where she has played a key role in promoting conservative policies and organizing impactful events on the international stage, such as CPAC Mexico 2024.

With a solid background in Political Science and Communications, Mercedes has held various positions in the U.S. government, including her role as White House Director of Strategic Communications during Donald Trump’s administration. In this position, she excelled in articulating key messages and coordinating communication strategies during critical moments.

Schlapp also has media experience, being a frequent contributor to networks like Fox News, where she analyzes and comments on political, social, and foreign policy issues from a conservative perspective. Additionally, she has been a fervent advocate for free speech and traditional values.

Of Cuban descent, Mercedes Schlapp has been a strong voice in the Hispanic community, defending policies that promote economic prosperity and security, especially in relation to the impact of socialism in Latin America.

Her combination of experience in government, media, and political strategies makes her a respected and influential figure within the conservative movement, both in the United States and Latin America.

Gateway Hispanic attended CPAC Mexico on August 24th, where our Editor-in-Chief, lawyer Maria Herrera, conducted a very interesting interview with Mercedes Schlapp, touching on numerous important topics. Here is part of the interview:

Maria Herrera: Well, we’re here with Mercedes Schlapp, Executive Advisor of CPAC, who has brought this important project to unite the Hispanic world and also to inform the American people about what is happening in this hemisphere, which is often unknown, including the hardships and persecution carried out by these regimes. Welcome, Mercedes.

Mercedes Schlapp: Oh, thank you so much! It’s so wonderful to be here in Mexico City!

Maria Herrera: That’s right. The last time we saw each other was with Santiago Azcal’s visit, the first Spanish representative to speak on the issues that unite us: freedom of speech, defending human rights, and, of course, unity, which is why we’re here. What inspires you about CPAC Mexico? Why organize it in this country?

Mercedes Schlapp: Well, let me tell you, all the international CPACs inspire me. It’s really impressive. When we were in Spain with Vox, we saw a video that my husband, who speaks and understands Spanish quite well, had created. The video covered all the topics we talk about: gender ideology, which is so problematic, as we know; the destruction of the family; illegal immigration; the lack of job opportunities in these countries; and the suppression of free speech by the leftist side. What has happened? The leftists have been organizing for decades, and we conservatives have taken, I don’t know how long, to come together. Why? Maybe we don’t share the same language or are in different countries, trying to do what we can. But if we unite and share practices, policies that work in each nation, we can say, “You’re not alone. We are united in advancing the family agenda, the nation agenda, the freedom agenda,” and also not being afraid at this moment. That’s something President Trump has taught all of us. You have to fight for freedom. You have to fight against the communists. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!

Maria Herrera: You know, we are developing, and we just launched Gateway Hispanic. The English side of Gateway Pundit has nearly 3 million views. And what did its CEO, Jim Hoffman, do? He said, “Let’s educate Hispanics about the issues they don’t know.” Number one: election integrity. Your vote counts, and it must be sacred. Something even Hispanics don’t know because the system is so different. Second: you have the right to express yourself however you want. You have the right to say if you want your six-year-old child, who you send to school, to come back as a boy and not a girl. And, of course, just because we’re Hispanic doesn’t mean we have to support policies of open borders, the trafficking of women and minors, and the recent revelation that the Inspector General’s office has alerted us to the possible trafficking of over 320,000 minors in the United States. We are worse off than Mexico, Morocco, and the worst countries trafficking humans.

Mercedes Schlapp: This is an international crisis. I always say, when we talk about human trafficking, especially involving children, it’s a matter of humanity. It has nothing to do with being a Republican or a Democrat. It’s about humanity. If we’re not doing everything we can to protect the youth, the children, the most innocent part of their lives, then why are we here? That’s part of why CPAC was also the inspiration for Eduardo Verastegui’s film, Sound of Freedom. We’ve just celebrated the first anniversary of the CPAC Center Against Human Trafficking. It’s been incredible what we’ve been able to accomplish in the United States—helping politicians understand the crisis, writing laws to protect children, and at the same time, working to stop these criminals who should not be in the U.S. and should be behind bars.

Maria Herrera: In fact, yesterday, former President Trump announced that he’s planning to draft legislation proposing the death penalty for illegal immigrants who traffic children and women. But wait a minute, isn’t Trump supposed to be a misogynist who hates women and allowed children to be locked in cages in the U.S., Mercedes?

Mercedes Schlapp: I have to tell you, the leftists are incredible. First, as a former advisor to President Trump, I worked with him. Women in the White House had more power than almost anyone else, other advisors included. He always listened to us on every issue, and for me, he was the best boss I’ve ever had in my entire life—except my husband, who’s now my boss at CPAC. But I’ll tell you, President Trump understands the danger at the border. He was there. He has spoken to families, including Latino families who have lost their children to these unimaginable crimes.

Maria Herrera: The Aragua Train is operating freely and with impunity in the United States, attacking U.S. law enforcement. We know that the same criminal who assaulted a police officer in New York has been released without bail after using fraudulent identification. How can we allow this in the U.S.? Four months ago, this was unthinkable. Today, it’s a reality in America.

Mercedes Schlapp: And what you’re seeing now with Kamala Harris is that she’s ignored the border. They’ve done nothing in this administration, and now she’s criticizing President Trump for not supporting a border security law that demands the entry of thousands of people without any form of vetting.

Maria Herrera: Look, I’m a lawyer in the U.S., licensed in five states, and I practice immigration law at the border. I’m the first to say that allowing immigrants to enter without passport control or criminal background checks just because they claim to be anti-communist and persecuted is unacceptable. Where’s the evidence? Why is our Border Patrol tied up, allowing human traffickers, drug traffickers, and people from terrorist-sponsoring countries—over 600 individuals from the Middle East—to enter?

Mercedes Schlapp: We’re talking about 300,000 children whose whereabouts are unknown—the federal government doesn’t know where they are, 300,000 kids who crossed the border.

Maria Herrera: Why aren’t they given even a notification to appear in court?

Mercedes Schlapp: Nothing, and their families don’t know where they are. I’m telling you, what’s happening at the border is criminal. What Kamala Harris has done, and now she’s saying, “No, I’m going to be tough on the border.” That’s a lie. They haven’t done anything for three and a half years. We know that more than 10 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border, and what we’re seeing is that many of these young girls who’ve crossed have been sexually assaulted.

Maria Herrera: Here in Mexico, Venezuelan women are being exploited. Mercedes, a fundamental issue that has exploded this week is how the White House has manipulated real employment numbers. This is starting to feel like Castro’s Cuba—officials blatantly lying about nearly a million jobs, saying the economy is doing well when, as Robert Kennedy has pointed out, the price of an average home two years ago was $200,000, and now it’s $400,000. Employment numbers are skyrocketing, but they’re falsifying them completely. This is turning into a fourth-world country.

Mercedes Schlapp: At the Democratic convention, not the Republican one, Kamala Harris spent the whole time talking about happiness. She’s the president of happiness; everything’s fine. But when you talk to Americans today, they can’t afford basic needs—electricity, food. The economy isn’t working under Biden and Harris. It hasn’t worked, and now they want to adopt socialist tactics to control housing and food prices, something that won’t work.

Maria Herrera: Not to mention the “Convention of Happiness,” where we saw pro-Hamas terrorists attack U.S. citizens of Israeli origin, entering the Democratic convention, attacking the police again, and completely subverting the order in this country. It’s truly unbelievable. What’s happening here, I think, is unknown to many people in Mexico.

Mercedes Schlapp: «And promoting abortion right outside the convention, vasectomies, abortions… over 20 abortions were performed right outside the Democratic convention. That’s demonic.»

María Herrera: «I want to congratulate you, Mercedes, because I believe these types of events are incredibly important. On this side of the border, in Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, Argentina, people are not aware of what’s happening. That’s why at Gateway Hispanic we are translating, covering your podcasts, and these types of events, so that the Hispanic community in the U.S.—which includes over 70 million people, half of them potential voters—can break free from being tied to a party that is only dragging them down and bringing them back to the conditions they fled from, like in Bolivia or Nicaragua: censorship, persecution of Catholics, FBI raids on people who have done nothing but walk through cities. It’s unbelievable. So, I deeply thank you, and we will have many more programs like this.»

Mercedes Schlapp: «It’s an honor, and of course, what you’re doing is so important. I always say, you’re not alone. We have a community—the CPAC family, as you know—and we can be united in amplifying this message of freedom, family, and country. It’s so important.»

María Herrera: «That’s right. So, thank you very much, and as we close, just like Donald Trump says, FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!! Thank you.»

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