Jake Tapper is making the rounds with Alex Thompson promote their book about Joe Biden's cognitive decline, "Original Sin." 

I covered their visit this morning to CBS, and it was a largely convivial interview. 

READ MORE: New Interview With Authors of Biden Book Reveals More Shocking Info, Who They Hold to Blame

But the authors also did Megyn Kelly's podcast. She of course was going to be much harder on them and ask the very pointed, obvious question that should be asked here: was he part of the willful blindness? He called the question "Tough, but fair," but denied he was part of any cover-up. 

WATCH: @MegynKelly grills @JakeTapper over his coverage on CNN of the Biden presidency in light of his #OriginalSin book (1/)...

Kelly: “Jake, the criticism has been that you're complaining about a cover-up about Joe Biden's mental acuity that failed that right wing pundits saw,… pic.twitter.com/YJwseG1z6o

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2025

He said the Democrats who covered for Biden justified it by saying there was an existential threat of Donald Trump. After Trump won, there was nothing to hold them back; the Democratic insiders were willing to tell what they knew. 

Tapper explained himself by saying, knowing what he knows now, he feels "tremendous humility about my coverage." He said he "owned that." He admitted that Lara Trump was right. He infamously went back at her over the issue, calling Biden's problem a "stutter." "She saw something I did not see at the time," he now admits. 

Yes, Jake, something easy to see, if you looked. Tapper said he did ask Biden about his health, but Kelly nailed him for not following up after things like Biden talking to dead people like former Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN). Kelly said he asked none of that despite Biden promising that he would be transparent about his health issues to Tapper. That left Tapper struggling, although he said he did ask Biden about his age and Biden said, "Watch me" to evaluate. 

Of course, we were watching him; Jake either wasn't, or he was willfully blind. Kelly ripped him for barely covering the mental acuity question. 

FIREWORKS on @MegynKellyShow between Megyn Kelly and Jake Tapper....

Tapper: “That's correct. I didn't. And like I said, I feel humility about my coverage. I mean, it's not like I was asking him his favorite movie or his favorite color. We were talking about Putin. We were… pic.twitter.com/zWE6PHE3Ac

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2025

They addressed the question of the Lara Trump interview and Tapper said he had called her, told her she was "right," and apologized.  

.@MegynKelly battles @JakeTapper over his 2020 interview with Lara Trump dismissing her mentioning Joe Biden’s cognitive decline....

Kelly: “Do you want to apologize to Lara Trump now?”

Tapper: “I've already apologized to her. I called her months ago.”

Kelly: “And what did she… pic.twitter.com/FGjLfcNzL4

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2025

This was the point where Kelly just pinned him over the issue. He tried to say Biden had been saying stupid things for decades (so that, in and of itself, is not enough to imply cognitive decline, he seemed to be arguing). 

LISTEN as @MegynKelly explodes on Jake Tapper after he argues "Joe BIden has been saying stupid things for decades"....

Tapper: “[T]he comments of Joe Biden making gaffes, saying things stupid, tripping, are all important and all deserved to be aired and all deserved scrutiny,… pic.twitter.com/hdMLEcdFkx

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2025

That's true, but there were also signs of the decline. 

"One of us didn't miss the biggest story of the century," Kelly said to him, and "one of us did."

.@MegynKelly grills @JakeTapper over his dismissal in June 2024 of the bombshell WSJ story about Biden’s decline because it was done by a Murdoch-owned outlet. Tapper responds by seeming to suggest the clips of Biden’s gaffes are less significant than the reporting he did for his… pic.twitter.com/0RfqDDXW88

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2025

He did deny that he was trying to cover up for Biden. He said he would have been more aggressive if he knew then what he knew now. 

CNN’s @JakeTapper says it’s “not...accurate” to say he assisted in the media cover-up of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline because he wanted to hurt Donald Trump and keep him out of the White House, adding he was not at all “fooled” by the Biden White House....@MegynKelly: “[Y]ou… pic.twitter.com/4V9UfC8p5c

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2025

But that's the problem. The information was there to report, and he didn't press. Even if all he did was read RedState, he would have seen it day after day. 

The big pause in the following clip, where he has no real answer for why he didn't follow up, says it all for how much the liberal media failed. 

.@MegynKelly brings the heat with @JakeTapper over his past comments about Joe Biden being “sharp mentally”....

Kelly: “I get it, but your commentary on your show —”

Tapper: “— could I — really —”

Alex Thompson: “Alright.”

Kelly: “— yes, I'm gonna bring you in, but your… pic.twitter.com/1n1gtFelYH

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2025

Kelly walked through so many instances that he ignored. She called out how his network called the truthful videos about Biden "cheap fakes." That's when he made a truly surprising comment that "conservative media was right." 

.@MegynKelly calls out CNN and @JakeTapper for parroting the Biden White House lie about "cheap fakes" in June 2024 ahead of the debate. Tapper admits he toned down his coverage of both candidates so neither would drop out...

Kelly: “[L]eading up to the debate, which you… pic.twitter.com/Dbxic3Mfld

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2025

Last one — @MegynKelly says he and @JakeTapper are friends, but still had the heated back-and-forth about his book, #OriginalSin, and the media’s role.

Tapper admits “we didn't come on the show thinking that this was going to be a softball interview” and “nobody flagellates Jake… pic.twitter.com/sSQZPEj8gh

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2025

He denied that he had anything to do with a "cover-up." 

But he did admit there should be a lot of soul searching not just by him but also for a lot of legacy media. Yes, he can say that now, because what is said about Biden now no longer matters. 

The question is what it says about them when it did matter. 

Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie.  

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