Jake Tapper

'Consoler in Chief' Gets Preferential Treatment from MSNBC Once Again
By Ryan Robertson | September 12, 2012 | 6:45 PM EDT

In light of the tragic events that just transpired in Egypt and Libya on Sept. 11, both presidential candidates felt obligated to host separate press conferences that aired just 30 minutes apart. In yet another example of the ‘journalistic integrity’ that saturates the MSNBC network, the Jansing and Co. hostess and guests openly showed favoritism to President Obama, who was glaringly devoid of any time for questions from the media.

Anchor Chris Jansing engaged in a conversation with NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd that continued off and on throughout the allotted hour. Republican challenger Romney was taken to task for sharing his opinion on the matter without the benefit of “any foreign policy experience,” or as they described it as “launching a political attack” after the murder of an ambassador.

That it’s entirely possible there were dangerously incompetent policies in place regarding diplomatic security in both Cairo and Benghazi were not even considered.

ABC Buries Democratic Booing of Restoring God and Israel to Party Platform
By Scott Whitlock | September 6, 2012 | 11:51 AM EDT

ABC on Wednesday and Thursday buried coverage of the embarrassing spectacle of Democratic delegates booing the reinsertion of God and Jerusalem to the party's platform. World News, Nightline and live coverage of Wednesday's convention completely ignored the gaffe. Good Morning America's Jake Tapper on Thursday breezed by it with a single sentence: "Lots of infighting about the party platform."

What was the problem, exactly? Tapper didn't say. (He did explain it online.) NBC's Nightly News and the CBS Evening News both covered it, Wednesday night. On Thursday, CBS This Morning's Nancy Cordes observed that "earlier in the day," the "party had to publicly rework the Democratic platform because they forgot to put a mention of God in there and a mention about Jerusalem being the capital of Israel." The program then featured video of convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa trying to force through the additions of God and Israel. Boos rained down. [See video below. See MP3 audio here.]

Flashback: ’I’ve Never Had a Gaffe‘ Joe Biden Jokes
By Mike Ciandella | September 5, 2012 | 3:27 PM EDT

News outlets are focusing on the latest gaffe from Vice President Joe Biden who said to a largely African-American audience that the GOP was “going to put y’all back in chains.”

Just over two years ago, the gaffemaster joked that he had “never had a gaffe” in a July 18, 2010 interview with ABC’s Jake Tapper.

Even then, that claim was itself a joke. It came only a few months after his March 23, 2010 announcement that the signing of healthcare law was “a big f---ing deal.”

Leno Mocks Obama Controlling Media: Jake Tapper Reads Question From Cue Cards President's Holding
By Noel Sheppard | August 22, 2012 | 10:04 AM EDT

NewsBusters reported Tuesday Barack Obama is now telling reporters what questions to ask of him.

NBC's Jay Leno must have seen this news for the Tonight Show aired a mock video of ABC's Jake Tapper reading a question at Monday's press conference from cue cards held by the President (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

AP's Kuhnhenn Leads Obama's First Presser in Five Months with Softball; Only CBS's Cordes Asks Tough Campaign Questions
By Ken Shepherd | August 20, 2012 | 4:51 PM EDT

Although the Obama/Biden campaign has plenty of gaffes and erroneous statements to answer for from the past five-and-a-half months -- the last presidential press conference was March 6 -- Associated Press White House correspondent Jeff Kuhnhenn opted to toss a softball to President Obama today as he was selected by the president to ask the first question at the chief executive's impromptu session with reporters in the White House press briefing room.

"You are no doubt aware of the comments that Missouri Senate candidate, Republican Todd Akin made on rape and abortion. I wondered if you think those views represent the views of the Republican party in general. They have been denounced by your own rival and other Republicans. Are they an outlier or representative?" Kuhnhenn asked, having obviously answered his own question. [MP3 audio here; video follows page break]

ABC's Tapper Calls Out Obama's Deceptive Attacks on Ryan Tax Plan
By Brad Wilmouth | August 19, 2012 | 4:14 AM EDT

On Saturday's World News, ABC correspondent Jake Tapper explained President Barack Obama's deceptive strategy of trying to get voters to believe that Mitt Romney supports lowering his own tax rate to less than one percent by attacking a tax plan which his running rate, Paul Ryan, once proposed in Congress which is not part of Romney's own plan.

As he introduced a deceptive soundbite from President Obama, host David Muir raised the issue:

ABC's Tapper Notes Obama's Evasion Of W.H. Press Corps; POTUS Has Time for 'People,' 'Entertainment Tonight' Though
By Matt Vespa | August 16, 2012 | 3:24 PM EDT

ABC News's Jake Tapper noticed an interesting trend with President Obama.  He hasn't been around to take any questions from the press lately.  In fact, he has evaded the national press corps  for more than two months.  However, as Tapper noted on his blog today, Obama did have time to talk to "reporters from People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight."  In addition, "during his three-day Iowa bus tour this week, for example, he conducted three interviews with local radio stations, including a sports talk radio show, and a roundtable discussion with columnists from three Iowa papers, in addition to sitting down with People and Entertainment Tonight. On July 12, he did an interview with Charlie Rose for CBS This Morning."

Obama's "last news conference was at the G20 in June, when he answered six questions from three reporters on the European debt crisis, the conflict in Syria, and the notion of politics stopping at the water’s edge. The White House press corps has not formally been given the opportunity to ask questions of the president on U.S. soil since his appearance in the Briefing Room on June 8 (when he said “the private sector is doing fine.)" 

NBC Can't Decide What 'Cut' Is, Doesn't Like Romney's Suggestion Obama 'Cut' Medicare
By Brent Baker | August 13, 2012 | 10:56 PM EDT

Chuck Todd has chutzpah. Jake Tapper has some integrity. For decades, journalists have aided liberals by mischaracterizing proposed slight reductions in the rate of spending hikes on a program as a “cut” or “slash” to it, so many trusting people, naively presuming the words have meaning, thus assumed there’d be an actual reduction.

NBC’s Peter Alexander repeated this fallacy on Monday’s Today when he described Paul Ryan as “the architect of a politically polarizing budget plan to slash trillions in federal funding, including cuts to Medicare...” NBC’s chief political correspondent, Chuck Todd, however, had the gall to correct Mitt Romney over a “cut” claim while ignoring Alexander’s falsity.

AP's Rugaber Erroneously Claims Obama's Pledge to Cut Deficit in Half Was a 2008 Campaign Promise
By Tom Blumer | August 11, 2012 | 9:18 AM EDT

UPDATE: The AP has corrected its story. The related NewsBusters post is here.

In his coverage of the latest Monthly Treasury Statement showing July and year-to-date federal budget deficits of $69.6 billion and $974 billion, respectively, Christopher Rugaber at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, cut President Obama a significant break when he wrote that "GOP candidate Mitt Romney has criticized Obama for failing to cut the deficit in half, as he pledged to do during his 2008 campaign."

The problem is that Obama's "pledge" wasn't a campaign promise at all. It was a promise made on February 23, 2009, over 3-1/2 months after he won the presidential election and more than a month after his inauguration. The, uh, Associated Press had the scoop that he would make this promise two days earlier:

ABC Hypes Obama's 'Barrage' Against Romney Finances: Stephanopoulos Wonders 'Any Give?'
By Scott Whitlock | July 16, 2012 | 11:59 AM EDT

Good Morning America on Monday hyped the liberal "barrage" on Bain Capital and the push to get Mitt Romney to release more tax records. Over the span of three minutes, ABC featured Barack Obama's attacks three separate times for 35 seconds. Reporter Jake Tapper showcased two more right-leaning talking heads chiding Romney. That's a total of five voices piling on the candidate. Only a single clip of conservative Mary Matalin appeared as a rebuttal.

Former Democratic operative turned journalist George Stephanopoulos probed for weakness from Romney, telling Tapper that "conservatives like George Will, Bill Kristol" are "saying he has to do more on these tax returns. You sensing any give on the Romney team?" Informed by Tapper that only the last two years will be released, Stephanopoulos lamented, "But no more than those first two years?"

ABC Helps Obama Get the Word Out About 'Nefarious' Romney
By Matt Hadro | July 6, 2012 | 4:28 PM EDT

In Thursday's campaign report by ABC's Jake Tapper, the Obama campaign received four soundbites as opposed to just one for Romney surrogates. The sharp imbalance was capitalized by Tapper choosing the word "nefarious" to describe the Obama campaign's caricature of Romney.

"Others in the Obama campaign discussing wealth Romney has invested overseas in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda painted an even more nefarious picture of the presumptive Republican nominee," Tapper relayed the Obama campaign's message to viewers of ABC World News.

Peggy Noonan: 'Rob Portman Just Might Eviscerate' Joe Biden in a Vice Presidential Debate
By Noel Sheppard | June 24, 2012 | 1:22 PM EDT

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan said Sunday that if Rob Portman were Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's running mate, he "just might eviscerate" Joe Biden in a vice presidential debate.

Appearing on ABC's This Week, Noonan added, "I think that might lead to a certain sense, this growing meme out there of the administration as a house of cards. There's something not fully stable, not fully operating, not fully right about this thing" (video follows with transcript and commentary).