“Daily Show” host Jon Stewart tore into CNN’s Jake Tapper this week, accusing Tapper and his parent network of tastelessly promoting the journalist’s new book on former President Joe Biden.
“Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” which Tapper co-authored with Axios’ Alex Thompson, chronicles what its authors describe as Biden’s deterioration during his time in the White House, as well as his reluctance to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
The book’s release this week feels ill-timed in the wake of Biden’s advanced prostate cancer diagnosis, publicly confirmed by his office Sunday. On Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Stewart argued that “Original Sin” contained “news [CNN and Tapper] should’ve told you was news a year ago for free.”
“Nothing could slow down this coming, feeding news frenzy about Biden’s cognitive health other than maybe a report on his actual physical health, which was not good,” he said. “But now we’ve got ourselves a little problem. You prepared an entire smorgasbord ... based on what you thought would be a relatively uncomplicated story about mental decline.”
“But now, doing the story seems almost disrespectful. Can CNN thread the needle?” he continued. “How do you pivot from excitedly promoting your anchor’s book to somberly and respectfully promoting your anchor’s book?”
