It started with a post about straws. A shared dislike for the ones made out of paper caught the eye of one of the most-watched television hosts in the country, Dana Perino.
The self-styled “Public Service Announcement” alerted Twitter followers of a restaurant in Washington, D.C., that served compostable plastic straws — not their mushy, “horrible” alternative.
Perino, co-host of Fox News’ “The Five,” and former press secretary to President George W. Bush, found the quip funny and messaged the post’s author, Matt Whitlock, a Brigham Young University alumnus who had made waves running the social media accounts of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch during his final term.
Six years later, Perino and Whitlock still “talk every day” — about politics, about life and about Whitlock’s latest online endeavor, a punchy 10-minute podcast that transforms the Trump-era news cycle into clear takeaways for voters and concise talking points for Republican politicians and their communications staffers.
By allowing Whitlock to step into the spotlight, the show — which Perino says was her idea — has drawn attention to Whitlock’s GOP communications talent during a turbulent time on Capitol Hill, and has established him as a rising star in conservative media, according to Perino.
“Matt has transitioned from a behind-the-scenes strategist to a trusted, more public voice,” Perino told the Deseret News, “without losing the humility and discipline that made him so effective in the first place.”
As red-state senators and representatives struggle to craft a compelling message on Medicaid reforms, ICE raids and Iran, Whitlock offers a polished rundown, twice a week, with digestible news nuggets tailored for what he calls his “most valuable focus group” — his family, split between Utah and California.
Those who have seen Whitlock at work believe the information firehose from the first few months of the second Trump administration is exactly the environment where Whitlock thrives: finding relatable (and often humorous) angles that make complex policy discussions accessible for constituents outside the beltway bubble.
But as Whitlock grows a larger following, the pressures of platforms like X — with algorithms that encourage spectacle over substance, and anger over answers — could threaten the very characteristics that have made Whitlock’s brand of persuasion appealing.
“The loudest voices online often get the most clicks,” Perino said. “But Matt has shown that you can be successful without being incendiary.”
The politics of Cafe Rio and green jello
When not recording “10 Minute Drill,” Whitlock is working as the senior vice president at CRC Advisors, a “powerhouse,” “go-to” communications firm for conservatives across the country based in Virginia.
The organization is chaired by Leonard Leo, a conservative legal activist best known for his role in the Federalist Society, and serves clients ranging from conservative think tanks, to nonprofits and large corporations.
To distinguish himself from the world of Washington, D.C., consultants and staffers, Whitlock casts himself as a “true believer" in conservative principles. It’s the ideas themselves, not the rat race of national politics, that drive him, he says.
But his connection to communications has always been linked to the excitement he feels when he can deliver a narrative across barriers, whether they be lingual, cultural or geographical.
As a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan, Whitlock said he learned to love the challenge of simplifying gospel lessons for people who had never heard of Jesus Christ.
After graduating from BYU in English, Whitlock got a gig as a “driver” for Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who had just entered office a year earlier. The senator learned Whitlock was applying for law school but recommended that he focus on what he did best: creative messaging.
Lee gave Whitlock his first opportunity in political writing, tasking him with composing a Senate floor speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of Utah’s 4-H club.
While the speech was never going to “burn up Fox News,” it helped Whitlock understand that the art of making important topics engaging for voters back home is key to good representation.
But Whitlock traces his “genesis” to the four years he spent as the press secretary and communications director for the Beehive State’s longest-serving senator.
That’s where Whitlock mastered his trademark combination of comedic marketing and policy know-how, according to Matt Sandgren, Hatch’s final chief of staff.
In 2015 and 2016, Hatch’s office spearheaded the bipartisan passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, one of the most significant updates to intellectual property law in decades.
Only Whitlock could come up with a way to make the legal impact of the policy tangible for Utahns, Sandgren said. His pitch? This law will protect the trade secrets of Cafe Rio, Utah’s favorite homegrown Mexican-American food chain.
The real work, though, often took place after Whitlock came up with an idea. Fueled by caffeine, he would jump in front of multiple computer monitors to clip, and package, and post, and track how a message made its way through the Twitterverse, Sandgren said.
“Matt does the research, and that’s what I believe separates him,” Sandgren said. “He’s just gritty and hard-charging and works harder than anyone.”
Unlike some in communications, Whitlock was determined to gain a deep understanding of the policy debates being hashed out in Congress, Sandgren said. But it was the way Whitlock brought levity to navigating today’s political climate that others remember most.
Melanie Bowen worked in Hatch’s office for 36 years, most of that time as his state director. It wasn’t until Whitlock that Utahns got to see a lighthearted side of Hatch that those who worked with him had long known and loved, she said.
Whitlock was responsible for the senator’s “Hamburger Tour,” where the team would roll up to fast food joints in black escalades, sit down and eat a burger all while Whitlock was in the background “tweeting it out.”
And Bowen said she will never forget other Whitlock photoshoots of the seven-term senator grabbing some green jello at a Chuck-A-Rama, or eating bacon with boxing gloves or serenading Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander on the piano.
“Matt’s work ethic and his wit made him one of the best communications directors on Capitol Hill,” Bowen said.
Can ‘the best facts’ bring people together?
After more than a decade in Washington, D.C., Whitlock said he stays grounded by focusing on family — he and his wife have two toddlers, and frequently make trips to Davis County, Utah, to visit her parents.
It takes effort not to get “really entrenched in Washington,” Whitlock said. So he is constantly trying to filter the chaos of the news cycle down to the essentials for “people that have families and jobs and normal lives.”
“My goal was always to help a normal person in Utah, who is not plugged into the political news cycle like an IV, understand why it mattered to them,” Whitlock said.
But it is also his goal to take what he sees as Democratic criticisms and turn them into winning arguments for current communications directors and campaign managers working on the Republican side of the aisle.
In response to outcry over cuts to Medicaid being considered by congressional Republicans, Whitlock cited examples of how Medicaid work requirements could speed up services for the severely disabled by removing able-bodied individuals from the wait lists.
Following anti-ICE protests around the country, Whitlock pointed to polls showing that a majority of Americans support the deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally, especially if they have been convicted of crimes.
As President Donald Trump’s actions toward Iran have become more aggressive, Whitlock showed how over the last decade Trump has been consistent in his stance that Iran should never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
By focusing on positive reasons in support of conservative policies, instead of negative attacks on his opponents, Whitlock has made himself something of an outlier on social media, according to Stephen Law, the former CEO of the Senate Leadership Fund PAC.
Even as Whitlock was innovating new approaches to GOP communications at the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the tense elections of 2020, he managed to avoid the temptation on X to “instantly become vicious, angry and insulting,” Law said.
“X is a combat arena in politics,” Law said. “And Matt, I think it’s his personality and his character, he just doesn’t sink to that level.”
Despite his open partisan intentions, Whitlock still believes he can help “bring people together around the best understanding of the facts,” even as political polarization produces more news and punditry that tells voters the “world is going to end.”
It’s this optimism, sprinkled with a few jokes, and the occasional jab at paper straws, that is the most encouraging to Perino. It’s also what sets Whitlock apart in a world where online incentives all push in the same direction: down.
“In a town where everyone seems to be shouting, Matt has a unique way of cutting through the noise with clarity and calm,” Perino said. “He’s not just chasing headlines, he’s building trust.”
