CNN host Jake Tapper laughably argued he now makes a point of aggressively covering President Trump’s missteps because he failed to do so while covering former President Biden.
🚨NEW: Jake Tapper says he *CONSTANTLY* covers Trump's missteps because he dropped ball on Biden🚨@DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/7aJot54ai6
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) December 15, 2025
"We cover it all the time on my show, all the time," Tapper said. "And I think that is to a large degree because we saw what happened with Biden, and while we covered it, we didn't cover it...We didn't ask as many questions as we should've at the time. And I think it is a legitimate question for any president of any age, but in particular anybody who is, like, in the range of being an octogenarian. Right? We cover it all the time."
Conservatives have long asked for fair and evenhanded coverage, not an overcorrection driven by guilt or self-reflection. Even if we take Tapper at his word, aggressively scrutinizing a Republican president in an effort to compensate for past failures does not enhance journalistic credibility. It simply emphasizes his partisanship.
A more plausible explanation is that Tapper covers President Trump’s missteps more aggressively because he fundamentally disagrees with him, a dynamic that has defined much of the mainstream media’s approach to conservative politics for at least the past decade. If Tapper truly believes in equally scrutinizing presidents, that commitment should be evident regardless of which party sits in the White House. Conservatives will be more likely to take his claims seriously when they see the same level of criticism applied to a Democratic president.