What’s the first rule of holes? Something about not digging anymore? I can only assume that Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, who authored “Original Sin,” a book that compiled various anonymous accounts of Joe Biden’s senility while in office, haven’t heard of that concept.
So what’s the issue? The issue is that Tapper spent years trashing people who questioned Biden’s mental fitness, operating as a stenographer for the White House even as everyone with eyes and ears could see exactly what was going on. That’s what makes “Original Sin” that much more insulting. It’s not that sources in the book aren’t legitimate or interesting. It’s that Tapper and the press as a whole are using the book as a way to cover for their own part in the scandal.
SEE: Jake Tapper and His Co-Author Expose the Grift Behind ‘Original Sin’
That brings me to Tapper and Thompson’s latest interview, a sitdown on Bari Weiss’ podcast where both men were faced with questions about the press’ role in covering for Biden’s senility. It would have been the perfect time to offer some contrition. Instead, we got this.
CNN’s @JakeTapper reflects on his coverage of Joe Biden’s mental decline:
“I would not say I was incurious. I would say that I was one of the many people who was asking about this and was lied to over and over… I don’t know what more we could have done.” pic.twitter.com/sX5YeLJ20C
— Honestly with Bari Weiss (@thehonestlypod) May 29, 2025
There are two possibilities given that statement. Either Tapper is a dishonest hack, or he’s a total moron. There’s no third option because when your grandmother from Kentucky with no internal sources could clearly see Biden was senile, “I was lied to” doesn’t begin to cut it. It should not have mattered what the White House was telling Tapper. He should have been reporting on the evidence as it existed, and to be sure, there was a multitude of it showing that Biden couldn’t function cognitively on a regular basis.
Again, we are talking about a president who searched a room during a speech for a dead woman he had expressed condolences for just a month earlier. Never mind all the forgotten and mixed-up names, the constant slurred speech, the inability to exit stages, and having to be escorted off by a staffer in an Easter bunny costume. If I gave all the examples, I’d be here all day.
Yet, Tapper wants us to believe there was just nothing more they “could have done” regarding the press. I don’t know, but maybe he could have tried calling out the White House officials who were so obviously lying to him instead of accusing conservatives of misconstruing Biden’s condition? Just spitballing.
And while Thompson was, to his credit, more critical of Biden prior to his campaign-ending debate compared to the rest of the mainstream media, he’s falling into the same excuse-making.
Axios’s @AlexThomp: The media’s failure to report on Biden’s mental decline was less about a liberal ideological mission—and more due to groupthink, intimidation from the White House, concern about being ostracized by peers, and a fear of losing sources. pic.twitter.com/3eQLuQSWfy
— Honestly with Bari Weiss (@thehonestlypod) May 29, 2025
I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure proclaiming that “we were all cowards who were too scared to cross the Biden administration” doesn’t make this situation any better. On the contrary, I’d argue that’s even worse than if the cover-up was solely driven by partisan ambition. At least I can understand that, as distasteful as it is. But to claim fear of being “ostracized by peers” and “intimidation from the White House” as reasons for not only lying about Biden’s condition but viciously attacking those who didn’t is laughable. If that’s the case, every single journalist in question should be fired, including Tapper and Thompson.
It’s fascinating that they are hyping their investigative journalism chops here for the book while claiming they were told obvious fabrications at the time and golly what else could they do. https://t.co/o9vAkupDFS
— Boo (@IzaBooboo) May 29, 2025
Journalists are brave truth tellers, just light firefighters rushing into a fire, they rush toward a story and hold truth to those in power.. Unless their coworker might get mad at them and they lose TV hits, then they turn into Private Upham melting down on the stairs. https://t.co/R6zgcEVLhb
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 29, 2025
This is why “Original Sin,” whatever good it may have produced, is ultimately an exercise in obfuscation. It exists to allow Tapper and the rest to claim they told the truth about Biden while they set up their next partisan hit. The book should have included an entire chapter on the press’ failings. Instead, it pretends they didn’t happen. We can all see the game being played.
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