Over the weekend idiot leftists on social media came up with the theory that the CPAC stage was deliberately designed to look like a Nazi symbol:
This is the CPAC stage design below. It is a rune which was used by the SS.
This is the stage from which @tedcruz screeched “freedom.”
(Image via @dailybeanspod) pic.twitter.com/OgpOuCYdV5
— Ben Jackson (@BJacksonWrites) February 27, 2021
Well Hyatt took the bait and issued the first of two press releases, one on Friday and another on Sunday. The first one was short:
We take the concern raised about the prospect of symbols of hate being included in the stage design at CPAC 2021 very seriously as all such symbols are abhorrent and unequivocally counter to our values as a company. The CPAC 2021 event is hosted and managed by the American Conservative Union that manages all aspects of event logistics, including the stage design and aesthetics. We discussed directly with ACU leadership who told us that any resemblance to a symbol of hate is unintentional. We will continue to stay in dialogue with event organizers regarding our deep concerns.
The one from Sunday was much longer, but I’ll only quote the significant portion:
When we learned that CPAC 2021 stage design had been compared to a symbol of hate, we promptly raised this concern with meeting organizers who strongly denied any connection to such symbols. Had we initially recognized the potential connections to hate symbolism, we would have proactively addressed it prior to commencement of the event. Unfortunately, this became clear to us only after the event kicked off. With CPAC’s denial of any intentional connection to hate symbols and our concerns over the safety of guests and colleagues in what could have been a disruptive situation, we allowed the event to continue. We understand and respect the opinions of those who might disagree with that decision.
Our own values support a culture that is characterized by empathy, respect and diversity of opinions and backgrounds, and we strive to bring this to light through what we do and how we engage with those in our care. We do not always agree with or share the same values as groups hosting meetings and events at our hotels – and while we may not always get it right, we strive to strike the right balance among our customers’ rights to express themselves in their meetings and events, inclusivity and our role in providing meeting facilities.
CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp originally responded to the conspiracy theories about the state like this:
Stage design conspiracies are outrageous and slanderous. We have a long standing commitment to the Jewish community. Cancel culture extremists must address antisemitism within their own ranks. CPAC proudly stands with our Jewish allies, including those speaking from this stage.
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) February 27, 2021
Today he hit back at how Hyatt handled the absurd claims, via Fox News:
Representatives from the American Conservative Union had scathing words for Hyatt Hotels’ leadership on Monday, after the company that hosted the 2021 CPAC event issued statements that the ACU claimed “disparaged and defamed” it.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, told Fox News that the political group intends to stand up for itself as he says Hyatt Hotels “buckled to the lies of the cancel culturists on the Left” amid a controversy over the design of the stage.
Schlapp said that because CPAC is such an “effective” platform he expected critics from the other side of the aisle to target the event “in an attempt to cancel us,” but the American Conservative Union did not expect to be fending off what it perceives as attacks from the company that it worked with to host the event.
“Contrary to Hyatt’s own mission statement of inclusivity, your company just attacked its own customer by caving in to the pressures of the politically motivated social media agitators who seek to destroy CPAC, our attendees and speakers from across the country, and the millions of Americans who support our work,” David Safavian, General Counsel for the American Conservative Union, said in a statement.
Schlapp, who refers to the accusations as “absurd,” said the event’s organizers had been working with Hyatt on a coordinated public response but claims the company waited until CPAC was over to break their understanding and to “disparage us” as a way to try to “curry favor with the cancel culturists of the left.”
“We are going to stand up for our honor and our character and it’s just absurd to accuse this conference and our organization of being anti-Semitic when we had the [U.S. ambassador] to Israel speak from that stage,” Schlapp said, adding that there were also standing-room-only Jewish religious services that the hotel helped facilitate.
Safavian’s letter said that the conservative group collaborated with Hyatt Hotels and subcontractors throughout the planning process – including on the stage design, noting that no one from the company raised any concerns during that time.
When asked by Fox News whether the American Conservative Union planned to cut ties with Hyatt Hotels for future events, Schlapp said the group is “reviewing all of its options.” He also urged conservative Americans not to spend their consumer dollars at corporations that will “attack” them on the “whim of any false charge.”
The entire scandal is ridiculous and Hyatt should have stood with the ACU and CPAC, their customers, throughout the entire saga. Instead they did nothing but make it worse by suggesting they had ‘deep concerns’ about it and would have nixed it had they realized its “connections to hate symbolism”.
Schlapp has a right to be angry and I suspect this will be the last time they do a CPAC with Hyatt.