It comes as no big secret to anyone who has read more than 300 words of mine that I am no big fan of the American mainstream media. I lump a lot of the entertainment industry into that category as well, because they are — as we all know — dutiful propagandists for the American Left. However, it’s the cable, nightly news, and Sunday show hosts who are the most egregiously biased hacks, and they are usually who are in the front of my mind whenever I write about “the MSM.”
One of my least favorite of the current crop — especially in the Trump Derangement Syndrome era — is CNN’s hackmeister supreme, Jake Tapper.
I have been having disagreements with fellow conservatives about Tapper for years. To me, he has always been a run-of-the-mill leftist media hack. Whenever I mention that on social media, a few conservatives will chime in with a variation on, “He’s not as bad as the rest of them.”
Yes, he is.
Tapper gets a pass from some conservatives largely because takes the time to be solemn and respectful each Memorial Day and acknowledge those who have given their lives defending our freedom. OK, even I can respect that.
In my book, however, that doesn’t make up for just how awful he is for the rest of the year.
Tapper may not be the low-functioning attention you-know-what that his colleague Jim Acosta is, but Acosta doesn’t get to act out on camera as much as Tapper does. Acosta is limited to a minute or two of grandstanding at White House press briefings, and the occasional quick hit on other CNN programs. Tapper, on the other hand, hosts six hours of original programming each week and his Sunday show, State of the Union with Jake Tapper is aired a second time each weekend.
That’s a lot of time to hack things up.
Tapper also ingratiates himself with some conservatives by interacting with them on Twitter. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why this would be a thrill but then I’ve got ego issues of my own and rarely am excited about talking to other people.
Jake has been a real stand-out water-carrier for the Democrats in recent weeks, helping some of their worst and dumbest perpetuate the lie that President Trump called coronavirus a “hoax.”
At the end of March, Tapper hosted the winner of America’s Ditziest Bartender Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and let her get away with it:
AOC just repeated the lie that President Trump called coronavirus a "hoax."
This is not true, and has been debunked by numerous fact checking sources.
This would've been a great time for a fact check, @jaketapper… https://t.co/Ps1hItAKGA pic.twitter.com/X8qQEwMthF
— Abigail Marone (@abigailmarone) March 22, 2020
After being called out for his error of omission here, Tapper finally came up with this word-barf to kinda/sorta explain himself:
I thought about it, because the president did not call the virus a hoax.
But i didn’t because he *did* call a hoax the concerns of those saying that the response from the president was insufficient and that he was downplaying the gravity of the crisis. And that too was a lie. https://t.co/MdPeulQpZ1
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 22, 2020
So…Trump used the same word for something completely different and that was all Tapper needed to let AOC spew a blatant falsehood. By the way, this is in keeping with current MSM policy to let AOC continue to be both stupid and untruthful on camera, all the while celebrating her as some sort of political savant. Tapper is no better than Acosta or anyone at MSNBC here, for those who are still in the “he’s better than the rest of them” camp.
This past Sunday, Tapper was at it again, letting Chuck Schumer get away with the very same thing. I’m sharing my retweet here for added commentary:
This is a lie. Tapper is a hack. Also, someone should check Schumer for a head injury: he thinks de Blasio has done a great job handling the crisis. https://t.co/JrqNaFRqob
— SFK (@stephenkruiser) April 19, 2020
In less than a month, Tapper seems to have forgotten that he knows this to be false.
No breaks whatsoever should be given to any leftist hacks in the MSM. The political press in the United States has been horribly biased for over half of a century now, but they’ve been truly vile since the 2016 election. Tapper’s Memorial Day sincerity doesn’t make up for even the two examples I have provided in this column.
He’s a biased hack.
It’s time for all conservatives to grasp that.
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PJ Media Senior Columnist and Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.” His columns appear every Tuesday and Friday.
