Tapper admits feeling 'humility' about past Biden coverage as liberals disparage new book

CNN host Jake Tapper has acknowledged "humility" about his past coverage of Joe Biden, although that hasn't stopped criticism of his and Axios reporter Alex Thompson's new book about the cover-up of the former president's decline while in office.

"I think some of the criticism is fair, to be honest," Tapper told CNN last week as he was pressed on the criticisms of himself and the book. "Of me, certainly. I’m not going to speak for anybody else, but knowing then what I know now, I look back at my coverage during the Biden years — and I did cover some of these issues, but not enough. I look back on it with humility."

Tapper and Thompson's new book, "Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," was released on Tuesday. Tapper has admitted to insufficiently reporting on Biden’s health concerns as his past coverage of the administration has been criticized by conservatives. 

"And so, look, she was right, and I was wrong," Tapper told NPR of a 2020 back-and-forth he had with Lara Trump, who was President Donald Trump's campaign adviser at the time. "And I look back at that exchange, and not just that, but my coverage in general - with humility. I don't - I mean, I did cover this. I can point to times, where, you know, I asked him this, or I asked him that, or I pointed this out to this person or whatever.

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"But knowing what I know now, I barely scratched the surface. Very few people outside the conservative media world were doing so," he said Tuesday. In a separate interview on CBS, he said conservative media was "all over this."

Comedian Jon Stewart called out CNN on Monday for relentlessly promoting the book and slamming the network for advertising "a book about news they should’ve told you was news a year ago for free."

"Don’t news people have to tell you what they know when they find it out? Isn’t that the difference between news and a secret?" Stewart asked. "‘You won’t believe what we found out!’ No, that’s why I’m watching. Breaking news… in a week."

"You’ve prepared an entire smorgasbord based on what you thought would be a relatively uncomplicated story about mental decline. News has the countdown clock, they got the book graphics, they got the CNN Happy Meal tie-in toys, but now doing the story seems almost disrespectful," Stewart said. "Can CNN thread the needle? How do you pivot from excitedly promoting your anchor’s book to somberly and respectfully promoting your anchor’s book?"

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Radio host Charlamagne Tha God, a liberal who repeatedly spoke out against Biden and concerns about his age on the campaign trail despite his disdain for Trump, said Tuesday that he was looking forward to reading the book but remained skeptical of Tapper. 

"I’m looking forward to reading it because I want to see if people like Jake Tapper hold themselves and their networks, like CNN, accountable for how much they didn’t report on," he said during his "Breakfast Club" show. "Because they’re all complicit in not calling a thing a thing in regards to President Biden."

"The View" co-host Joy Behar slammed CNN on Tuesday for "hawking" the book, and wondered when Tapper would write a book about Trump's decline. Co-host Sunny Hostin also focused her criticism on Trump officials who made money on books about the administration after Trump's first term. 

Whoopi Goldberg wondered why the book was important now and questioned the over 200 sources the authors spoke to, asking, "If you’re telling me that hundreds of people knew that he was not able to do his job, then where the hell was everybody?"

MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski, a strong Biden supporter, pushed back on the authors over the notion of a "cover-up" while speaking to Tapper and Thompson on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

The first question posed to Tapper and Thompson by Brzezinski was, "is it fair to say that Joe Biden had a successful presidency, remarkable presidency, possibly even a historic presidency in his time in office?"

Brezinski maintained that the MSNBC morning show covered Biden and his re-election campaign in real-time, and while she applauded Tapper and Thompson's reporting, questioned the contention of a "cover-up," 

"And one of the contentions you make is that that’s sort of the media didn’t do its part, or did like way too late. And what’s not in the book, is the day after the debate. Joe, very painfully, immediately, says Biden should step out of the race. And it was really a big change for the direction of the show. I personally went on a very long plea for him to stay in the race, and I still stand by it," she said. 

"Nobody agrees with me, but we debated this, and we covered this, and my point is that we did this in real time. There is definitely new information in this book, great reporting, but I want to understand why you’re using words like cover up, which insinuates a crime or something. Was there a crime committed? Because we’re in an environment where we are covering an administration that is actually in office right now, that is pushing the limits of the law in every way," Brzezinski added.

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Tapper said he and Thompson cover Trump critically on a daily basis. Brzezinski pushed back, saying "You've given hours and hours to this book."

Brzezinski and co-host Joe Scarborough then asked bluntly what the cover-up was. Thompson responded by asking if the pair were shocked by the former president's June debate performance, and they responded, "yes."

"If there was not a cover-up, then you guys wouldn't have been shocked," Thompson said. 

Liberal influencer Harry Sisson praised Naomi Biden's criticisms of the book. Naomi, Hunter Biden's daughter and Joe Biden's granddaughter, issued a scathing rebuke, deeming it "political fairy smut" on social media.

"Just read a copy of this silly book, and if anyone is curious for a review from someone who lived it first-hand: this book is political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class. The ones who rarely enter the arena, but profit from the spectacle of those that do. Put simply, it amounts to a bunch of unoriginal, uninspired lies written by irresponsible self promoting journalists out to make a quick buck," Naomi Biden wrote.

Conservative critics have taken aim at Tapper since the announcement of his book, alleging he was part of the cover-up and "trying to re-write history" with his book.  

Journalist Mark Halperin has also called out Tapper, CNN and specifically, CNN media analyst Brian Stelter, for promoting the book.

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"Brian Stelter has been, over the course of the entire Biden presidency, one of the biggest critics of those on the right and those few people like me in the independent media who have tried to hold Joe Biden accountable," Halperin said. "He's accused us of, you know, being propagandists, of celebrating cheap fakes and deepfakes." 

"I don't understand someone whose job it is to hold the media accountable, to not hold, not just his own network, but every news organization in the country who, now it's clear, participated in a cover-up. Some because of threats, some because of a desire to help Joe Biden win," he added. "Massive cover-up."

Figures on the right have not been quick to forget past media dismissals of Biden's issues. Fox News contributor Joe Concha told Fox News Digital the timing of the book was the "main reason why media is so distrusted these days."

"It's all about ego and money and self-importance," he said.

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Reached for a comment, a representative for the book pointed to Tapper's remarks on MSNBC on Wednesday that many of their sources with critical comments about Biden, including cabinet secretaries and high-ranking Democratic insiders, didn't feel comfortable speaking until after the 2024 election.

"Many of them expressed regret that they hadn't come forward until election day," he told "Morning Joe."