Latest news with #BidenDecline
Fox News
30-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Tapper reveals Democratic sources felt no remorse about covering up Biden decline in interviews for book
Print Close By Hanna Panreck Published May 30, 2025 CNN's Jake Tapper said during an interview on Wednesday that the many Democratic sources he and Axios reporter Alex Thompson spoke to for their book about the cover-up of former President Biden's decline didn't really express remorse or acknowledgment that a mistake was made. "We never got somebody that said, 'We should never have done this. I can't believe we did it. In retrospect, it was a mistake. How arrogant we were.' I mean, even, you know, there was a top aide, a top White House aide, who acknowledged to me that this short 10-15 minute interview I did with Joe Biden in October 2022, he would not have been capable of doing in October 2023. That admission was stunning to me," Tapper said on The Stephen A. Smith Show. He added, "But it did not come with, 'And we really made a mistake, we shouldn't have run him. What an error. I can't believe we did it.' It didn't come with that." Tapper and Thompson's book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," has detailed the length at which those closest to Biden went to cover up his limitations while in office. The CNN host recently said the scandal may even be "worse than Watergate." AXIOS REPORTER PUSHES BACK ON BIDEN'S DENIAL OF MENTAL DECLINE, SAYING WHITE HOUSE INSIDERS DISAGREE Tapper said the sources said they thought Biden was the only one who could beat President Donald Trump. "So I think that most were telling the truth, as much as they had come to terms with it themselves, but I do wonder where they will be in a year, because I heard from one of the people, one of the Democrats I interviewed for the book, who gave me one of the most shocking revelations, and I checked in, 'How are you doing,' they're upset. But they're not upset at us, not upset at the book, they're just upset that it happened and now everybody is talking about it," he added. "They're still working through a lot." Thompson also discussed one interview he did that occurred before the election for the book, who he described as saying that all the former president had to do was win and "occasionally show proof of life and the people around him would run the country." "And their justification was when you, first of all, you're not bringing back Trump. And when people vote for president, they're also voting for the people around them, and some people in the Biden world, that is how they justified keeping this going," Thompson added. Tapper added that view was "crazy." SHIELDING BIDEN: JOURNALISTS SHED LIGHT ON THE MEDIA'S COVER-UP OF A WEAKENED PRESIDENT "That was somebody who worked for the White House before the election, before Biden dropped out, saying like, it's no big deal, he just needs to show proof of life. That was the term, proof of life.' I mean, that's so offensive," Tapper said. The CNN host also accused the former president, and those around him, of being anti-democratic. "And like the idea that Biden thought only he could beat Trump and that he could be president for another four years, both of those are not facts and they both seem odd to me. But the idea that he would deny the Democratic Party an opportunity to have a primary system that would produce, among possible candidates, whether you or Gretchen Whitmer or Josh Shapiro or Gavin Newsom or whoever, that he would deny that to the party, so that this small group of people, including him, and one cabinet secretary said to us that it was, at best, he was a senior member of a board that ran the country. It's anti-democratic, really," he said, speaking to Smith, who has suggested that he was open to a potential bid for the presidency. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Tapper has admitted that he didn't cover Biden's decline extensively enough since the book's release and has said he looks back on it with "humility." Print Close URL
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- 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.
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Jake Tapper suffers lowest rating in a decade after backlash over White House tell all
CNN anchor Jake Tapper 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.
CBC
27-05-2025
- General
- CBC
The ‘cover-up' of Joe Biden's decline
Last June, during the first presidential debate of the 2024 U.S. election campaign, Joe Biden stumbled and struggled to find the right words. His performance was described as disastrous and incoherent. At that point, many Americans had already come to the conclusion that Biden was too old for the job. But for those who hadn't yet, the debate was the moment that fact became impossible to deny. Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again is a new book that investigates Biden's cognitive and physical decline in recent years, and the attempt by a small group of loyalists and family members to keep it from public view. Journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson did over two hundred interviews with lawmakers, White House officials, and campaign insiders for it. Despite the reporting, Joe Biden continues to reject concerns about his age. His recent diagnosis of an aggressive prostate cancer has brought his health back into the spotlight. Today on Front Burner, Axios' National Political Correspondent Alex Thompson on his new book, and the political consequences of Joe Biden's decline. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit:
Fox News
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Tapper claims Biden decline cover-up 'maybe even worse than Watergate'
CNN host Jake Tapper said during an interview with Piers Morgan on Monday that the cover-up of former President Biden's decline was "worse" than the Watergate scandal during Richard Nixon's presidency. "'Joe Biden is not Richard Nixon, and the hiding and cover-up of his deterioration is not Watergate.' I am not entirely sure I agree, Jake with that conclusion," Morgan said, quoting the book, during his show, "Piers Morgan Uncensored." Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson released a book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," which details the cover-up of Biden's decline and his choice to run for re-election. "The next line is, 'It is an entirely separate scandal'. It is a scandal. It is without question, and maybe even worse than Watergate in some ways. Because Richard Nixon was in control of his faculties when he wasn't drinking, so the idea that, we don't mean to exonerate," Tapper said. "The only reason that we have the Watergate thing in there is because we quote Archibald Cox, who was a Watergate investigator, talking about how powerful the presidency is and how presidents get surrounded by people who have a vested interest in keeping that president propped up," the CNN host added. "So that's the only reason we invoke Watergate is just to make clear like, it's not Watergate this is an entirely separate scandal, maybe even worse." The Watergate scandal is known as the Nixon administration's cover-up of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters during the 1972 election. The scandal was investigated and ultimately led to Nixon resigning in 1974. Morgan agreed that the cover-up of Biden's decline was worse than the Watergate scandal, before pressing Tapper on his coverage of the former president. Morgan asked Tapper if he felt he owed the American people an apology "for slightly dropping the ball with this." Morgan also played a clip of Tapper's 2020 interview with Lara Trump, who worked for President Donald Trump's campaign at the time, spotlighting some of his past coverage of the former president's decline. "I feel like I owe the American people an acknowledgment that I wish I had covered the story better," Tapper responded. "Knowing what we know now, and looking back on that interview, which I feel tremendous humility about, she [Lara Trump] was right and I was wrong. I did not see, in the moments he was having, I did not see that as cognitive decline." Tapper said he would try to do better with regard to his coverage during the discussion. The CNN host acknowledged feeling "humility" when confronted about his past coverage, but has still been criticized for the book about Biden. MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski insisted during an interview with Tapper and Thompson earlier this month that they covered the discussion about Biden's age in real-time, taking issue with the authors' allegation of a cover-up. "Nobody agrees with me, but we debated this, and we covered this, and my point is that we did this in real time. There is definitely new information in this book, great reporting, but I want to understand why you're using words like cover up, which insinuates a crime or something. Was there a crime committed? Because we're in an environment where we are covering an administration that is actually in office right now, that is pushing the limits of the law in every way," Brzezinski said. Liberal co-host of "The View" Joy Behar complained during their show that Tapper was "hawking" the book on CNN, demanding to know when the CNN host would write a book about Trump's decline.
