Jake Tapper found himself on the receiving end of a C-SPAN caller’s fury Tuesday, which saw the CNN anchor being scolded by the Virginia woman and apparent Joe Biden fan for “doing a disservice to Joe” and the “American people” over his book about the former president’s cognitive decline.
Over the past few weeks, Tapper has been on a relentless media tour promoting Original Sin, the bestseller he co-wrote with Axios correspondent Alex Thompson that alleges a White House “cover-up” of Biden’s declining mental and physical health during the second half of his presidency.
Throughout his media appearances hawking the book, Tapper has claimed that the alleged cover-up of Biden’s diminishment could be “worse than Watergate,” Biden’s “sleazy” son Hunter acted like the “chief of staff of the family,” and that “conservative media was right” about the former president’s age-related issues.
The book, meanwhile, has already been cited by House Republicans to justify and expand an investigation “into the cover-up of President Joe Biden’s mental decline,” which also includes Donald Trump’s allegations that Biden aides abused the power of the presidency by using an autopen to sign pardons. Trump, meanwhile, has admitted he has no proof to back up his claims.
Appearing on C-SPAN’s call-in show Washington Journal on Tuesday to discuss Original Sin, Tapper was soon confronted by a woman named Sarah from Virginia, who let the CNN star know in no uncertain terms that she didn’t appreciate his reporting on Biden.
“I watch you on CNN,” she started. “But right now, I really don’t like you. I think you’re doing a disservice to Joe and also to the American people.”
Sarah then wanted to know when Tapper was going to turn his attention towards the current occupant of the White House, all while demanding that the 79-year-old Trump face the same amount of scrutiny over his age as Biden.
“When are you going to examine what is going on with Trump? Joe Biden conducted himself for four years taking care of the United States. He took meetings. He went overseas. He negotiated with other leaders,” she said.
“This president has been pure chaos, which indicates to me that there is something wrong with him,” the caller continued. “We will never get a straight answer on his medical examinations, what medication he is on, and yet you have gone after Joe Biden with a vengeance that… I’m very disappointed in you.”
While Tapper sat stoically, Sarah let him know that while she used to “enjoy watching” his CNN show The Lead, those days were over.
“And I think right now you ought to start writing another book examining Trump and how erratic [he is] and what he is doing, calling out the National Guard, the Marines, and everybody<’ she concluded. “When has a president ever done that? It’s pure erratic!”
Tapper, while making sure C-SPAN viewers knew when his show aired during the weekdays, defended his coverage of the current president while suggesting that his reporting on Biden could be applied to Trump and others down the line.
“Sarah, as you know from watching my show on CNN, we cover President Trump every day for two hours — every day from 5 to 7 Eastern — and we cover all the things you talk about, in terms of the current president’s behavior,” he stated. “We have covered the times that he has confused Nancy Pelosi with Nikki Haley.”
Saying that he thinks “some of the questions about President Trump’s behavior have more to do with personality than with cognitive decline,” Tapper noted that “whatever lessons we’ve learned from covering President Biden, we would apply to any politician” now or in the future.
“So I’m sorry if I’m disappointing you by covering President Biden,” he declared. “But journalists, we are supposed to cover stories that we think the American people have a right to know, that we think will enhance their understanding of how the country is run.”
After telling Sarah that he and Thompson “are proud of this book,” he reminded her that if she tuned into CNN “later today, tomorrow, the next day, you’ll see we’re continuing to focus on” current events.
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