Jake Tapper's CNN ‘ratings drop' as he ‘pimps' Biden book

Yahoo

30-05-2025

Jake Tapper, the co-author of an explosive book claiming the White House covered up Joe Biden's cognitive decline, is haemorrhaging viewers on his CNN show, it has been claimed.
Media analysts attributed the apparent decline to the relentless hawking of his book Original Sin by Mr Tapper and Alex Thompson of Axios.
According to the Nielsen Ratings, The Lead, Mr Tapper's daily show averaged 525,000 viewers from April 28 to May 5, representing a 25 per cent drop on the same period last year.
'Tapper is saying in his new book, we saw what was going on, but we didn't tell you,' Andrew Selepak, media professor at Florida University, told The Telegraph.
'Well, that kind of blows up any credibility. And if you're looking at a news host to get news from, they basically are now telling you I wasn't really giving you the news.'
'There's not a lot of interest in consuming that content,' he added.
'That lack of credibility makes you go, why should I continue to consume you? If I'm not going to get the truth from you, I might as well watch Netflix.'
Other factors have also contributed to plummeting Nielsen ratings.
Some of the decline can be attributed to more viewers 'cutting the cord' and watching the show through streaming services, and the figures do not include viewers outside the US.
Greater political polarisation has also been a factor, according to Prof Selepak, with MSNBC attracting viewers from the Left and Fox from the Right at CNN's expense.
However, there is also evidence of public disenchantment at the amount of publicity given to the book, on social media.
Liberal journalist Glenn Greenwald was scathing on X.
He ridiculed Mr Tapper for having woken up after 30 years in journalism and realised 'the first axiom of Journalism 101: politicians and governments lie and journalists shouldn't blindly believe them'.
Another X user, Doug Wright, imagined a CNN production meeting. 'Everyone pimp the book into every news story no matter how irrelevant. Remember, you get paid by the book mentioned.'
Comedian Jon Stewart could scarcely hide his disdain.
'How do you pivot from excitedly promoting your anchor's book to sombrely and respectfully promoting your anchor's book?
'You frame this news as even more of an excuse to buy this book. Some observers might think, do these CNN people work on commission?'
Christopher Galdieri, professor of politics at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, told The Telegraph that Mr Tapper was paying the price for his relentless search for publicity for his book.
'Tapper has been promoting his book about Biden non-stop. And again, I think if you are a Democrat who liked Biden, you're probably not enjoying that very much.
'And it probably seems disproportionate. You've got all the Trump stuff going on, you've got all the Doge stuff, all the tariffs, all the deportations.
'Just go down the whole list of stuff Trump is up to, and Tapper's main focus seems to be relitigating the fact that Joe Biden was old.'
A CNN spokesman told The Telegraph: 'The award-winning program The Lead with Jake Tapper reaches broad global audiences across CNN, CNN International and Max's streaming platform.
'No single metric can capture the true reach and impact of a programme driving the national conversation.'
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.