Jake Tapper blasted after emails show he invited guests on his show who he ‘banned’ after Jan. 6
Thomas McDonald
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CNN host Jake Tapper is under fire for released emails showing he invited guests on his show, including Senator Josh Hawley and Representative Elise Stefanik after saying they were ‘banned’ in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley’s press secretary released emails showing Jake Tapper attempting to book him on his show 18 different times since Jan. 6. “Ignore @JakeTapper’s public virtue signaling, @CNNSotu has asked @HawleyMO to come on 18 times since Jan 6. We have receipts,” Abigail Marone, Hawley’s press secretary tweeted.
The emails show that Tapper invited Hawley onto the show as late as May. One of the emails in the tweet has the subject “at SOTU,” which is the acronym for Tapper’s show, State of the Union, dated May 4, to talk about the upcoming SOTU show on May 9. The email reads, “Hope you’re safe and well. Writing to see if the Senator would be available to join SOTU co-anchor Jake Tapper this weekend.”
Tapper tweeted a response to Marone’s screenshots saying that he was not the person in charge of booking guests on his own show and if he were given the option to have Hawley on as a guest, he would have said no.
Tapper refers to the accusation that Joe Biden beat Donald Trump via means of voter fraud as “the big lie.”
Responses to Tapper’s tweet pointed out that Tapper himself questioned the election results between George W. Bush and Al Gore, writing a book entitled Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency, claiming that both Democrats and Republicans plotted to steal the presidency in 2000.
Others pointed out Democrats have a long history of challenging election results they don’t like, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who is a regular guest on Tapper’s show.
Another user asked why Tapper’s bookers would be reaching out to guests if Tapper himself banned them from the show?
New York Representative Elise Stefanik also chimed in, revealing multiple email she received from Tapper’s show asking her to be a guest. Stefanik is also one of the Republicans whom Tapper has banned from his show.
Stefanik tweeted, “Shot….. chaser, chaser, chaser.”
The first screenshot is of Tapper explicitly denying any airtime to Republicans who he says “push election fraud,” including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, and Elise Stefanik.
The first email shown is from May 4, which displays the person’s title as a Senior Planning Producer and Senior Editorial Producer from CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper. They write, “Hope you’re doing well! Wanted to check in to see if the Congresswoman might be available to join Jake a day this week in the 4-6pm hour.”
The person who wrote the email added, “Happy to get her on the phone with Jake prior to committing.”
Another email, dated May 5, to Stefanik’s office reads, “Good morning ladies, Would the Congresswoman have any availability to join Jake Tapper hosting State of the Union this Sunday morning?”
Tapper responded once again, saying he can not control who his “excellent bookers” bring to him as possible guests. Many pointed out the absurdness of a booker wasting time inviting someone on a show that the host has banned.