Latest news with #AlexThompson
Russia Today
a day ago
- General
- Russia Today
Trump promotes claim Biden was replaced by ‘robotic clone'
US President Donald Trump has shared on social media a claim that his predecessor, Joe Biden, was secretly executed and replaced by a 'robotic entity.'The original post, published by an anonymous user on Saturday afternoon, included a link to an article alleging that Biden's family feared they were 'running out of time to exploit' the former president following his cancer diagnosis.'There is no #JoeBiden – executed in 2020. #Biden clones doubles & robotic engineered soulless mindless entities are what you see. #Democrats don't know the difference,' the message read. Trump reposted it on his Truth Social platform hours later without comment. Biden, who has shown signs of cognitive decline for years, abruptly withdrew his candidacy from the 2024 presidential race after a disastrous debate performance that alarmed the Democratic Party. He named then-Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement, who subsequently lost to have long accused Democratic leadership of covering up Biden's mental and health issues during his presidency and reelection campaign. Last month, Biden revealed he had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer that had spread to his their recently released book, Original Sin, journalists Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios detailed how Biden's staff worked to conceal his decline from the public. The authors claimed that a 'Politburo' of Biden's family members and close aides were the real decision-makers during his term in office.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Issue Is: Alex Thompson and 'Original Sin'
LOS ANGELES - "Original Sin" by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson is the best-selling book in America this week, according to the New York Times. It's dominated the political conversation more than any other book has in years. Co-author Alex Thompson joins us this week on "The Issue Is:" to talk about what was really going on at the Biden White House, reaction to the book, and changes that are needed in the media going forward. "The Issue Is: with Elex Michaelson" is California's statewide political show. Watch more episodes at
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Jake Tapper's CNN ‘ratings drop' as he ‘pimps' Biden book
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?' 'Disproportionate' 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.'
Fox News
4 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Biden says he could 'beat the hell out of' authors of new book arguing his cognitive decline
Former President Joe Biden joked Friday he could take on those who questioned his mental faculties following his first public remarks since announcing he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Biden's statement comes after several books have been released detailing his mental deterioration while in office, including the book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," that was released May 20. "You can see that I'm mentally incompetent, I can't walk," Biden quipped with reporters Friday after speaking at a Memorial Day event. "And I could beat the hell out of both of them." Biden appeared to be referencing the book's authors, Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios. The reporters' book claims that Biden struggled to string together coherent sentences for campaign ad videos, that his cabinet meetings were "so scripted" and that Biden's team allegedly plotted a cover-up to hide just how severely his mental faculties had declined. But Biden's team has pushed back on the material included in the book. "There is nothing in this book that shows Joe Biden failed to do his job, as the authors have alleged, nor did they prove their allegation that there was a cover up or conspiracy," a Biden spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Nowhere do they show that our national security was threatened or where the President wasn't otherwise engaged in the important matters of the Presidency. In fact, Joe Biden was an effective President who led our country with empathy and skill." In addition to the publication of multiple books this year chronicling the deterioration of Biden's mental faculties, leaked audio recordings of Biden's October 2023 interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur were released in May, showing that Biden struggled to not slur his words and even appeared to forget the year his son died. Biden revealed May 18 that he had an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer, and his office later said he had never received a prostate cancer diagnosis before. Biden told reporters Friday that he is "optimistic" about his diagnosis and is currently receiving treatment in the form of a pill. "My expectation is we're going to be able to beat this," Biden said. Earlier Friday, Biden appeared at a Memorial Day sponsored by the Delaware Commission of Veteran Affairs where he honored service members who had lost their lives. "We come together and remember the debt we owe to the American military," Biden said at the event, sponsored by the Delaware Commission of Veteran Affairs. "The military is a solid spine, the spine of our nation," he said. "Our troops, our veterans, our military families, and our Gold Star families in particular. Only around 1% of all Americans defend 99% of us — 1%. Just 1% of Americans risk the ultimate sacrifice. We owe them so much more than we can ever repay them."
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
CNN anchor Jake Tapper experiences decade-low rating
CNN anchor Jake Tapper (pictured) has suffered his lowest-rated month in a decade amid backlash over his tell-all book about former President Joe Biden's mental health decline. The Lead with Jake Tapper averaged just 525,000 viewers from April 28 through May 25 - shedding a quarter of its audience from the same period last year, new Nielsen ratings show. The devastating numbers came as the liberal anchor continues his whirlwind book tour to promote the expose. Tapper has been ubiquitous on podcasts, talk shows and cable news to promote the book, which was also widely celebrated on CNN. The tome, 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' was co-written with Axios reporter Alex Thompson. His CNN program was beat out by Fox News' The Five and Special Report with Bret Baier, which averaged 3.3 million viewers, as well as MSNBC's programming in the time slot - which averaged a little over one million viewers. That means Tapper's show received only 11 percent of the national cable news audience, while MSNBC received 21 percent and Fox received 68 percent. It also represented Tapper's lowest-rated month since August 2015, according to Fox News. Even worse, The Lead with Jake Tapper is seeing a lower audience of 25 to 54 year olds - a demographic that is coveted by advertisers and helps networks earn revenue. He averaged just 95,000 viewers in the demographic from April 28 through May 25, representing a 15 percent drop from last year. But Tapper was not alone with his abysmal ratings, as CNN itself suffered its second-worst month ever among the coveted demographic across both daytime and primetime shows in May. A spokesperson for CNN did not seem worried, though, noting that Nielsen Media Research only reflects the network's audience in the United States - and Tapper's program airs internationally. 'The award-winning program The Lead with Jake Tapper reaches broad global audiences across CNN, CNN International and Max's streaming platform,' the spokesperson told Fox. 'No single metric can capture the true reach and impact of a program driving the national conversation,' the spokesperson insisted. Indeed, Tapper's new book - which chronicles Biden's declining health as he served as president - took on new relevance when it was revealed earlier this month that Biden was diagnosed with 'aggressive' prostate cancer. However, his appearances on news programs and the ratings for his new book were overshadowed by claims that Tapper was complicit in the cover-up. Some online have even branded the journalist a 'fraud' and a 'phony' as they shared videos of him hitting out at Republicans who wanted to investigate Biden's mental acuity. In October 2020, he even hit out at Lara Trump, who pointed to a speech Biden gave in October 2020 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.' The journalist, though, claims he trusted Biden and his aides and took them at their word when they assured him that all was well. He said the turning point for him was the disastrous debate between Biden and Trump in June 2024, which he and fellow CNN star Dana Bash moderated. 'Knowing what I know now, obviously I feel tremendous humility about my coverage,' Tapper told Megyn Kelly, as he admitted that 'conservative media was correct' in how it handled the story. 'There should be a lot of soul-searching not just among me but among the legacy media to begin with - all of us - for how this was covered or not covered sufficiently,' he said. 'I wish I could do differently.' Tapper has since admitted that the cover-up of Joe Biden's cognitive decline in the White House may have been 'worse than Watergate.' He has even reportedly apologized to Lara Trump for his remarks. '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.' Still, Tapper has continued to face criticism for his coverage of the Biden administration - with Lara saying that even though she appreciates his acknowledgement of wrongdoing and that Tapper has stuck to his vow to apologize publicly, '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.' The CNN host then appeared to squirm on Wednesday when Stephen A. Smith called his new book a 'money grab.' Tapper insisted that 'very few people write books to make money' and claimed his and Thompson's 'only agenda was to find out what happened. Our only agenda was to write this book. '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,' the journalist stammered. '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 insisted.
