Jake Tapper on Why He Covers Trump's Health Constantly

Reflections on Media Coverage of Presidential Health

CNN’s Jake Tapper has taken a moment to reflect on his past coverage of former President Joe Biden and how it has influenced his current approach to reporting on President Donald Trump’s second term. This introspection came during an appearance on the “Pod Save America” podcast, where Tapper discussed his experiences and the lessons learned from covering two very different presidential figures.

Tapper, who co-wrote the book “Original Sin” alongside Axios’ Alex Thompson, admitted that they didn’t ask as many questions about Biden’s reported cognitive decline as they could have. The book, released in May, revealed details about Biden aides’ efforts to hide the politician’s health issues from the public. In May, Biden was also diagnosed with prostate cancer and is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment.

The discussion arose when host and former President Barack Obama spokesperson Tommy Vietor asked Tapper, “How do you think the media is handling these growing instances of Trump falling asleep in meetings or maybe seeming like he’s losing a step? Like, when is it a critical mass that it becomes book-worthy?”

“It’s a great question,” Tapper responded before addressing Trump’s health and cognitive state. “We cover it all the time on my show, all the time.”

He then explained what he now sees as his missteps in his reporting on Biden. “I think that is, to a large degree, because we saw what happened with Biden, and while we covered it, we didn’t cover it maybe — we didn’t ask as many questions as we should have at the time.”

Tapper added, “I think it is a legitimate question for any president of any age, but particularly anybody who is in the range of being an octogenarian, right?”

The CNN host told Vietor he and Thompson “didn’t write a book about Joe Biden’s missteps,” but instead “wrote a book about an unprecedented event happening, which was Joe Biden having such a horrible performance at a presidential debate where his only job was to convince people he was up to the task of being president for another four years.”

Biden dropped his reelection bid in late July 2024 after a highly criticized debate performance against Trump that June, leaving his chosen successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, with mere months to kickstart a campaign to defeat Trump.

Current Coverage of Trump's Behavior

Wrapping up his comments, Tapper pointed to his coverage of Trump’s most recent behavior. “Literally yesterday, I covered that crazy Truth Social rant, when he was mad at The New York Times for covering his aging, and he called it sedition or treasonous.”

“After all of the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams, and everything else, I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean ‘THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,’” Trump wrote in a Dec. 9 Truth Social post.

Tapper’s reflections highlight the challenges journalists face when covering the health and cognitive states of high-profile political figures. His admission that he could have asked more questions about Biden’s condition serves as a reminder of the importance of thorough and persistent journalism, especially when it comes to matters that could affect the leadership of a nation.

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