The Real Issue With Tapper's "Original Sin"

Had the Book Came Out 18 Months Ago, It Would Be Received Differently

As a journalist, Jake Tapper is actually pretty good. He asks good questions. He’s generally fair and cordial with his interviews. He has a command of the screen and on the panel. He moves from interview to interview smartly, deliberately and smoothly. When I think of the people sitting in the host’s chair for the major networks’ nightly news hours, he probably would be at the top of the list.

That is not to say the man is Walter Cronkite by any means. Cronkite took great effort and pride in his credibility. His objectivity as a journalist was never in dispute. Cronkite went to Vietnam to report on what was happening, and upon returning, offered a rare opinion by him that the war looked dire; LBJ said that if he lost Cronkite, he’s lost the country and pulled out of the race the next day. Tapper on the other hand, over the summer in which a Presidential election is running, takes a notable amount of CNN network airtime pimping a fiction novel he wrote about the Evel Kneival era. Tapper is also not immune from the snide remarks and arrogant parlor games of the D.C. commentariat. On election nights, as someone like David Axelrod or David Urban are offering a noteworthy piece of insight to consider, Tapper has no problem getting in the last word on it or quickly pivoting off the topic.

Which brings us to “Original Sin,” the book about Joe Biden’s final year in office and the “cover-up” of insiders to hide the fact that he was showing signs of being elderly. I use the words “cover-up” loosely here because it was evidenced by anyone with two eyes in America, and Tapper loves to play up stories and narratives as more scandalous as they really are. Tapper does have a show on CNN titled “United States of Scandal” after all, some of which (Anna Delvey?) only seem relevant to the chattering classes. Of course Joe Biden was old. Of course he showed signs of his age. It was all right out there in the open. The fact Democratic insiders tried to downplay it or make it less important didn’t mean it just went away; in fact it said more about those insiders than it did the reporters asking the questions about it.

Which is one of the really frustrating things about all this. If anyone had a front row seat for it, it’s Jake Tapper. Jake had access to the White House and other insider officials that the rest of us don’t. Surely, he and others at CNN or any other network news channel could see the decline in Biden over the last 10 years, but more specifically the previous 10 months prior to him leaving the campaign. When questions about Biden’s health arose, they didn’t offer any personal insights or perceptions into the discussion; instead they let the partisan pundits carry that torch so they could keep their hands clean and seem “objective.” Objective doesn’t mean not taking sides, it means calling a spade a spade. It’s not like Tapper never gave a rebuke or a stinging opinion when it was warranted; I vividly remember him commenting very forcefully about Jamal Khossogi, Trump’s prediliction for lying and crackdowns on the press; he’s certainly capable to pointing out the obvious and doing a good job of it. Biden’s mental state was less than it was when he started office; it was evident watching on television way out here in Minnesota. I can’t believe someone who actually covers the White House and occassionally interviews it’s occupant couldn’t see that.

However, as everyone at the time understood, pointing it out came with consequences. Trump was going to make mincemeat of the Republican Primary field and walk to a third nomination. If Biden could not run, there would be a contentious primary and the candidate would be weakened as they started the campaign against Trump. In addition, Biden felt he could still do the job, and those around him deluded themselves into thinking that he could. When Dean Phillips, a Minnesota Congressman, pointed this out to the world, but more importantly to the Democratic Party, his campaign was derided by the Jake Tappers of the world as quixotic, improbable and damaging to the Biden campaign. It’s easier to not have to deal with those consequences if you can just ignore the issue and restate the party line.

Eventually, movie star George Clooney finally said out loud what everyone kind of already knew but nobody would acknowledge; Biden was too old and his mental state too compromised to be President for another four years.¹ A mad rush ensued for what to do next, and by the end of the weekend, the party had aligned behind Biden’s V.P. Kamala Harris. Harris did fine as a candidate, drawing to a tie or slightly ahead coming out of the Democratic Convention depending on the polls, and thoroughly thrashing Donald Trump at the only debate (Trump would not accept another). But the overall atmosphere fostered by the previous four years, COVID malaise, inflation, and the aftermath of identity politics cost Harris the election and elevated Trump again to the White House. Those issues would be there for ANY Democratic candidate. But to hear Tapper’s retelling of the era, Biden choosing to run is what gave us Trump. Unlikely. George Clooney is currently starring in his production of “Good Night and Good Luck” on Broadway about Edward R. Murrow’s fight against McCarthy; Tapper should take notes, or watch it at his leisure since CNN is airing it as a special.

Tapper had all the information he needed 18 months before the election to do the same thing George Clooney did. In fact, he had a front row seat to it. Did he press the issue or shine a spotlight on it? Nope. In fact, he kept his mouth shut about it, compiling all of his notes and sources and 20/20 hindsight for a book to be published 5 months after Trump took office, when the story was stale, nobody was itching for news about Biden, and there are far greater worries in the world. The book itself is just a hodgepodge of unnamed sources and innuendoes when the climate in Washington has completely changed and it’s now in their best interests to pick on the previous administration. Picking on Biden’s age and acuity at this point is akin to pointing to a small leak in the dam when a flood is breaching it everywhere else. With the Trump administration, the inmates have truly taken over the asylum, whereas even with Biden’s age and mental issues, there were sane people around him making sure the country didn’t go off the rails.

To be sure, there was a time when such a book about Biden’s mental state could have been relevant, as it was necessary. In the summer of 2023, when campaigns typically start gearing up for the primaries that begin the following January and February, a book about Biden’s age may have made a difference. The book would have been received differently, thrusting into the spotlight front and center by a popular journalist an issue that the American public had a right to know about. People may have reconsidered when there was still time to do so. Other candidates would have opportunity to build national campaign operations to take on Trump instead of relying on the Biden apparatus. There would have been a good discussion about the Biden legacy, and what needed fixing. It certainly would have been more relevant at that time, much more relevant than “All the Demons are Here,” which was his Evel Kneival fiction novel that he did publish during this time period.

Instead, Tapper and the D.C. Media sat on their hands; it wasn’t their job to, you know, report on what they saw. It was their job to moderate others to discuss. That is the real “Original Sin” here; the washing of the hands of the media elite who knew better but didn’t want to upset the current administration and perceived likely next Democratic Nominee. And in that Tapper has no excuse. Worse yet, now they kowtow to the current trump administration for the same reasons and the same business concerns. Tapper’s book doesn’t really speak about Biden’s flaws or failures, but the medias and the press’s as everything it states the media already knew way back in 2023 and chose not to report on. It lays bare the way too cozy relationship between D.C. news establishment and that of the current administration, specifically, what they’ll let slide and turn a blind eye to in the chase for sources and background on other stories they feel are important. Unfortunately, they demonstrate a narrow short-sightedness about what actually is news, and instead focus on gossip and D.C. parlor games and only reveal important information long after the fact when it is no longer actually relevant to the good of the country.

Tapper’s book is a failure because of the timing; and for that he has only himself to blame.

PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner

Another great story about relevant news that was sat on by a major network for business reasons, only to be released long after the fact when the information was already out in the public was Michael Mann’s excellent “The Insider.”

PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day

“There’s a reason we call it the ‘news’—we want to find out what’s new. If we cared about what happened awhile ago we’d call it the ‘olds.’” —George Carlin

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

“To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost.

This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and even it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise, it's nothing but wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.

Stonewall Jackson, who is generally believed to have known something about weapons, is reported to have said, "When war comes, you must draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." The trouble with television is that it is rusting in the scabbard during a battle for survival. Thank you for your patience.”

—Edward R. Murrow

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. Clooney mentioned that when he was hosting a multi-million dollar fundraiser for Biden’s campaign that Joe didn’t recognize him and fumbled with his words. He often fell back on the same stories which in various contexts were non sequiturs to what was being discussed. That it took Clooney to say it, and not the people we entrust with our news, says a lot.