Jake Tapper defends Trump age coverage after skipping over Biden
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CNN host Jake Tapper suggested Monday that one reason he’s now reporting on President Donald Trump’s age is that he and other journalists may have overlooked former President Joe Biden’s age during the last administration.
Open “Pod Save AmericaHost Tommy Vietor asked Tapper, who recently wrote a book about Biden’s mental decline and the administration’s cover-up, about his belief that the media should be covering escalating events such as “Trump falling asleep” or “skipping a step.”
“When does there become a critical mass that becomes significant, right?” he asked.
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CNN’s Jake Tapper frequently questioned President Donald Trump’s age and health on his show. (Screenshot/CNN)
“I mean, we cover that all the time on my show,” Tapper said. “All the time. I think it’s largely like that, because we saw what happened to Biden and we didn’t cover it when we were covering it…maybe We didn’t ask as many questions as we should have at the time. And I think that’s a legitimate question for presidents of any age, especially any octogenarian, right? We always maintain that.”
Tapper pointed out that in his report on Wednesday, he criticized the Truth Social post, which included reports that Trump was “slowing down.”
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“We should note that accurate reporting on the president’s rather obvious aging is neither provocative nor treasonous,” Tapper said. he said. during broadcast.
Jake Tapper is co-author, with Axios’ Alex Thompson, of “Original Sin: President Biden’s Fall, Cover-Up, and Disastrous Election to Run Again.” (Bryan Bedder/Variety via Getty Images)
On Thursday, Tapper also questioned the White House’s explanation for the bruising on Trump’s hand, suggesting it was due to the president’s “literally constant handshake.”
“The White House made the same statement about bruising in July.” Tapper said. “Of course he’s 79. And there must be something going on with his health that they’re not telling us about, otherwise why did he have that MRI?”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Jake Tapper admitted that former President Joe Biden did not adequately reflect the mental decline he has experienced over the years. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images; Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Before promoting his book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Denial, Cover-Up, and Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” Tapper acknowledged that he had not covered Biden’s mental decline thoroughly enough while Biden was in office.
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“I think some of the criticism is fair, to be honest,” Tapper said in May. “I’m not going to speak for anyone else, of course, but knowing then what I know now, I look back at my writings from the Biden years and say, I did address some of these issues, but not enough. I look back on these issues with humility.”
