Jake Tapper scrambled to respond when confronted directly over his new book — written with Axios reporter Alex Thompson — and the assertion that any “cover-up” of former President Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive and physical decline would only have been possible with the help of journalists.

Tapper and Thompson’s book, “Original Sin,” details Biden’s decline and his decision to run again despite that – and Tapper struggled to defend the fact that he, like many others in media, had failed to report on what was obvious to so many in Right-leaning media and to the American people.

Tapper was ultimately forced to admit that the conservative journalists — who’d been reporting on Biden’s obvious impairment for months, if not years — had been right all along.

“Alex and I are here to say the conservative media was right and conservative media was correct and that there should be a lot of soul-searching, not just among me, but among the legacy media to begin with, all of us, for how this was covered or not covered sufficiently 100 percent,” he said.

The admission came during an interview with Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly, who said Biden’s decline was “obvious” to the actually curious media.

“Over here in my ecosphere, we were covering all of these things,” Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly began. “It wasn’t just falling down, it was getting lost. It was some of the stuff you report in your book, we knew and we were reporting on. Like the multi jump-cuts in the videos of him, where it was obvious he couldn’t get through a one minute take.”

“It was clear to us that he was using a teleprompter, and there was some reporting on that at the time — all of which the White House was denying,” she continued. “Now, the current White House, I have some connections. With the Joe Biden White House, I had none — but you did. There was an attempted cover-up. It could only ever work if you allowed it, if the press allowed it. Some of us tried not to and some of us were complicit.”

Tapper pushed back then, saying that the Biden White House had not been terribly fond of him either — but Kelly argued that he’d gotten some 200 people in Biden’s orbit to talk to him for the book. Tapper noted that they spoke to him after the election, but Kelly said that he could have “called and worked” them before that.

“No, that’s the point, they were not being honest,” Tapper protested. “That’s the point.”

“Well, how did The Wall Street Journal get it in June of 2024?” Kelly asked. “And Jake Tapper and CNN couldn’t find sources for this story then, before he dropped out?”

Tapper noted that he’d had the reporters who broke the story for the WSJ — Annie Linskey and Siobhan Hughes — on his show to discuss their reporting after the debate he’d hosted alongside Dana Bash. However, he was forced to admit the fact that he didn’t have them on when the story broke – and had instead had them on after Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

Tapper claimed that he was “sure” he’d wanted to have them on when the story broke, but that he wasn’t aware of what the “booking situation” was at the time. Kelly noted that he’d instead booked a Democrat who spent the time smearing the WSJ report as propaganda from Rupert Murdoch.

“If we’re going to do this, let’s stick to the facts here, okay?” Tapper said.

“Jake, I’ve — that’s what I’ve been doing all along,” Kelly shot back. “One of us didn’t miss the story of the century when it comes to presidential politics, and one of us did.”

WATCH:

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Jake Tapper scrambled to respond when confronted directly over his new book — written with Axios reporter Alex Thompson — and the assertion that any “cover-up” of former President Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive and physical decline would only have been possible with the help of journalists.

Tapper and Thompson’s book, “Original Sin,” details Biden’s decline and his decision to run again despite that – and Tapper struggled to defend the fact that he, like many others in media, had failed to report on what was obvious to so many in Right-leaning media and to the American people.

Tapper was ultimately forced to admit that the conservative journalists — who’d been reporting on Biden’s obvious impairment for months, if not years — had been right all along.

“Alex and I are here to say the conservative media was right and conservative media was correct and that there should be a lot of soul-searching, not just among me, but among the legacy media to begin with, all of us, for how this was covered or not covered sufficiently 100 percent,” he said.

The admission came during an interview with Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly, who said Biden’s decline was “obvious” to the actually curious media.

“Over here in my ecosphere, we were covering all of these things,” Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly began. “It wasn’t just falling down, it was getting lost. It was some of the stuff you report in your book, we knew and we were reporting on. Like the multi jump-cuts in the videos of him, where it was obvious he couldn’t get through a one minute take.”

“It was clear to us that he was using a teleprompter, and there was some reporting on that at the time — all of which the White House was denying,” she continued. “Now, the current White House, I have some connections. With the Joe Biden White House, I had none — but you did. There was an attempted cover-up. It could only ever work if you allowed it, if the press allowed it. Some of us tried not to and some of us were complicit.”

Tapper pushed back then, saying that the Biden White House had not been terribly fond of him either — but Kelly argued that he’d gotten some 200 people in Biden’s orbit to talk to him for the book. Tapper noted that they spoke to him after the election, but Kelly said that he could have “called and worked” them before that.

“No, that’s the point, they were not being honest,” Tapper protested. “That’s the point.”

“Well, how did The Wall Street Journal get it in June of 2024?” Kelly asked. “And Jake Tapper and CNN couldn’t find sources for this story then, before he dropped out?”

Tapper noted that he’d had the reporters who broke the story for the WSJ — Annie Linskey and Siobhan Hughes — on his show to discuss their reporting after the debate he’d hosted alongside Dana Bash. However, he was forced to admit the fact that he didn’t have them on when the story broke – and had instead had them on after Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

Tapper claimed that he was “sure” he’d wanted to have them on when the story broke, but that he wasn’t aware of what the “booking situation” was at the time. Kelly noted that he’d instead booked a Democrat who spent the time smearing the WSJ report as propaganda from Rupert Murdoch.

“If we’re going to do this, let’s stick to the facts here, okay?” Tapper said.

“Jake, I’ve — that’s what I’ve been doing all along,” Kelly shot back. “One of us didn’t miss the story of the century when it comes to presidential politics, and one of us did.”

WATCH:

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