The Astonishing Chutzpah of CNN’s Jake Tapper

        Dear Jake Tapper,

        You co-wrote a new book in which you brazenly accuse the Biden administration of orchestrating a “cover-up” to conceal the former president’s cognitive decline. But you were complicit. You played a major role.

        Why did Democrats and media co-conspirators, like you, keep quiet, downplay and viciously attack those pointing out former President Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive decline — even though his deterioration was an accepted fact behind Democrat closed doors?

        Easy.

        Until and unless Biden agreed to step aside, Democrats/media who publicly ratted out Biden’s decline would have given Democrat-generated opposition material and attack lines to his Republican challenger — likely the hated Donald Trump. And you/Dems/media arrogantly considered Trump too “fascist/racist/sexist/maniacal” to win — even against a feeble, stumbling, incoherent Biden.

        If Biden insisted on running, as he did until the debate, and lost — an outcome you, Dems and the rest of the Trump-hating media thought extremely unlikely — the Democrat/media “traitors” who sounded the alarm would’ve been blamed, their careers jeopardized if not ruined.

        So, you stayed silent and denounced Republicans, like Lara Trump, who called attention to Biden’s condition on your show. You willingly and eagerly participated in the charade.

        Remember your October 2020 exchange with Lara Trump?

        Tapper: You made this comment earlier in the campaign about Joe Biden. Let’s take a listen to that.

        Video clip of Lara Trump: Every time he comes on stage, and they turn to him, I’m like, Joe, can you get it out? Let’s get the words out, Joe. You kind of feel bad for him.

        Tapper: How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?

        L. Trump: First and foremost, I had no idea that Joe Biden ever suffered from a stutter. I think what we see on stage with Joe Biden, Jake, is very clearly a cognitive decline. … That’s what I’m referring to. It makes me uncomfortable to watch somebody on stage search for questions. …

        Tapper: Yes, I think you were mocking his stutter.

        L. Trump: Of course I wasn’t, Jake. Wow.

        Tapper: And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody’s cognitive decline, especially …

        L. Trump: I’m not diagnosing. I’m saying that we see the Joe Biden of today is not the Joe Biden of five years ago, of 10 years ago.

        Tapper: I would think that somebody in the Trump family would be more sensitive to people who do not have medical licenses diagnosing politicians from afar. Plenty of people have diagnosed your father from afar. And I’m sure it offends you — your father-in-law from afar. I’m sure it offends you. You don’t have any standing to say …

        L. Trump: I’m not diagnosing him. What I’m saying, Jake …

        Tapper: You just talked about a cognitive decline.

        L. Trump: … is that we can clearly see that Joe Biden is struggling …

        Now that Kamala Harris, who was ushered in after the debate, got Trumped, it’s C-Y-A time. “Reporters” like you have the nerve to pin the loss on — and write a book about — a “Biden White House cover-up.”

        I’ll say this about a gaslighting “journalist” like you, Jake the Ripper — you’ve got industrial-size cashews.

        Even after the debate, the eyes-wide-shut nonsense continued. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden praised Biden’s performance. “He answered every question,” she gushed.

        There was one exception: Barack Obama. But Obama used campaign strategist and adviser David Axelrod to voice Obama’s alarm because he lacked the guts to do it himself.

        Obama never thought much of Biden. During their 2008 campaign, Sen. Obama reportedly said about his running mate, “How many times is Joe Biden going to say something stupid?” Obama talked Biden out of running in 2016, and unsuccessfully tried to talk him out of running in 2020.

        In November 2023, Axelrod tweeted: “Only Joe Biden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee … What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s.”

        When Biden turned down an opportunity to address the nation during the 2024 Super Bowl, Axelrod called it “a major sign of trouble.”

        Bottom line: Your hands are as dirty as anyone in the Biden-is-as-sharp-as-a-tack masquerade. Take responsibility.

        — A Concerned Citizen

        Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on X @larryelder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.