Jake Tapper responds to criticism over book on Biden
CNN 's Jake Tapper appeared to squirm when asked how much money he's making from the book he wrote about former President Joe Biden 's health cover-up. Tapper's new book, 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' co-authored with Axios' Alex Thompson, has sparked mass frustration and speculation as many believe the journalist was complicit in Biden's cover-up.
It claims to blow the lid off an alleged White House campaign that hid Biden's cognitive decline from the American people. Both Tapper and Thompson sat down with Stephen A. Smith Wednesday to discuss the book and the massive response it's gotten from people across the country. Smith specifically asked the pair what they think about people calling the book a 'money grab,' leading Tapper to say that 'very few people write books to make money.'
'No, our only agenda was to find out what happened. Our only agenda was to write this book,' Tapper replied. 'In terms of the left it's a money grab, I mean that's not the case. It's not - this is, I don't want to get into where my money comes from. You know, CNN is my main job and that's where my main source of income, by far... Very few people write books to make money,' he babbled on.
'You write a book because you want to say something. You want to have a legacy, you want to uncover something, you have a message you want to get out there,' Tapper stated, adding 'I don't think people write books about Joe Biden to make money' as Thompson smiled. 'That's a good point,' Smith chimed in. The embattled CNN star's recent commentary on his book comes on the heels of mounting criticism he's been receiving for it.
Early reviews of the book, which was released last Tuesday, were quickly overshadowed by allegations that Tapper himself was part of the cover up and is now seemingly trying to rewrite history. People quickly took to social media and labeled him a 'fraud' and 'phony' for writing the book and working for a left-leaning network that they suspect worked with the Biden administration in the cover-up.
'He's such a fraud,' one user on X wrote after another posted several clips of him speaking about the Steele dossier - a research report on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign that alleged he worked with the Russian government. In the video, Tapper was heard appearing to mock Trump's previous mentions of being a part of a 'witch hunt,' as he said: 'They've caught a few witches by the way, there have been a few witch indictments.'
In the clips from 2018, Tapper also ranted about how terrible it was that there were people who tried to 'stop an investigation into what happened' - calling it 'unpatriotic' - despite the fact he seemingly did the same when right-leaning media tried to probe Biden's ailing health during his term. The compilation, along with the release of his new book, enraged many people who strongly believe he is a 'liar' who is 'trying to get out of being held accountable.' 'He was and still is down for the cause. We are not fooled or amused,' wrote another.
'No retractions, no apologies, and no consequences for those who pushed a false narrative for years,' a user stated. Someone else commented: '[Expletive], he's lying. He knew all along that it was [expletive] and still carried the democrat party's water.' On Tuesday, President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law Laura Trump revealed that Tapper called her to apologize for a condescending on-air dispute in 2020 where he dismissed her concerns about Biden's mental acuity.
Laure revealed the phone call on Fox but said his apology was 'a little too late' -conveniently taking place just weeks before the publication of his tell-all book about the very topic. One of the most prominent examples of this was back in October 2020, when Lara pointed to a speech of Biden's and said: 'What we see on stage is a very clear cognitive decline.' Tapper immediately interjected, savaging her with a haughty response that she had 'absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline' and accusing her of instead 'mocking his stutter.'
While Tapper has publicly apologized for his response and admitted a sense of 'humility' over being proven wrong, Lara has now revealed he reached out to her privately two months ago. 'Jake Tapper called me about two months ago and he said "I have this book coming out,"' she told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. Tapper told her 'I know everybody is saying I should apologize to you. I plan, when the book comes out, to go on TV and say you were right and I was wrong.'
While she appreciated the acknowledgment and that Tapper has since stuck to his word by apologizing publicly, she noted that 'it feels a little bit too late to me.' 'Jake Tapper can't discount his role in that, no matter how much he wants to come out now,' she said. 'They have lost the American people's trust... It is the reason Donald Trump is in the White House right now. People like authenticity.'
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