In a recent episode of her podcast, Megyn Kelly, the host, engaged in a candid conversation with Jake Tapper, a CNN host and author.
The dialogue revolved around the critique of CNN's portrayal of President Biden's tenure, coinciding with the launch of Tapper's book, "Original Sin."
Kelly initiated the discussion by addressing the criticism Tapper has faced, stating, "Jake, the criticism has been that youre complaining about a cover-up about Joe Bidens mental acuity that failed that right-wing pundits saw."
Tapper responded, acknowledging his shortcomings in his coverage, "Knowing what I know now, obviously, I feel tremendous humility about my coverage. That Lara Trump interview, for example."
Kelly then steered the conversation towards Biden's lack of transparency regarding his health records. She pointed out, "He promised you that he would be transparent about his health records, and then he wasnt and when you sat with him again " Tapper admitted, "He was not transparent at all. No."
According to Breitbart, Kelly further criticized Tapper for not pressing Biden on his evident cognitive decline during their interviews. She highlighted instances of Biden losing his train of thought, slurring, and even getting lost on the White House lawn. Kelly stated, "You sat right across from him and you asked none of that, notwithstanding the fact that he had promised you he would be fully transparent about his health issues."
Tapper defended his approach, stating that he did question Biden about his age and the public's concern over his fitness for the job. He said, "Thats true, but I did ask him about his age and the fact that the American people had concluded that even though he said whenever anybody brought up the subject of his age, watch me, and I said theyre watching you and they are concerned that you are too old for this job."
However, Kelly argued that Tapper could have been more assertive in his questioning, stating, "But you know as well as I do that theres a way of, you can say, hey, theres this poll on your age, or you could say, you just forgot that Jacki Walorski was dead. You asked where she was moments after watching a videotape tribute to her. You lowered the flags at the White House after she died. This happened 13 days before you sat with him. There is a way of pressing a man like that on the actual infirmities to bring it home to him and to the audience, and you didnt do it."
Tapper conceded to Kelly's critique, admitting, "Thats correct, I didnt. And like I said, I feel humility about my coverage. I mean, its not like I was asking him his favorite movie or his favorite color. We were talking about Putin. We were talking about other issues of national importance. But yeah, I mean, of course, Ive said I look back at my coverage with humility and, and, I wish I did cover the issues of age and acuity, but I wish I had covered them much more."
The conversation between Kelly and Tapper underscores the importance of journalistic integrity and the need for media to hold those in power accountable.
It also highlights the ongoing debate about President Biden's mental acuity and the media's role in covering such sensitive topics.
Login