‘These Are PRISONERS!’ Incensed Jake Tapper Rips Trump For Calling Capitol Rioters ‘Hostages’ In Scorching Show Open

CNN’s Jake Tapper indignantly slammed former President Donald Trump for referring to January 6 rioters as “hostages” in a scorching show open noting those Trump supporters bear no resemblance to people like those being held by Hamas.

Trump added insult to injury by delivering speeches on Saturday — the anniversary of the insurrection he incited — calling the insurrectionists “hostages” and demanding President Joe Biden release them.

On Sunday morning’s edition of CNN’s State of the Union, Tapper opened his show with two minutes of blistering commentary trashing Trump’s speech for Civil War revisionism, mockery of late Sen. John McCain’s war injuries, and in particular his comparison of J6 rioters with people like the innocent Israelis being held by terrorists in Gaza:

TAPPER: Hello. I’m Jake Tapper in Washington, where the state of our union is once again just shaking our heads.

We’re eight days from the Iowa caucuses, one day past the third anniversary of the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and Donald Trump is dominating the political conversation in the only way he can, with wild and outlandish comments, among them, claiming that the U.S. Civil War could have been avoided if it had been negotiated, mocking the war injuries that the late John McCain sustained as a Vietnam POW, imitating President Biden’s stutter, all of this is Biden is trying to frame his own bid around protecting democracy.

Yesterday, as CNN obtained shocking new video of rioters directly off the House floor on January 6 shouting at Capitol Police and Republican lawmakers, Trump attempted to twist the facts about the attack on the Capitol by his supporters, claiming that President Biden was the actual threat to democracy.

While 1,265 of Trump’s supporters have been charged for their criminal conduct that day, 718 have pleaded guilty, 171 have been found guilty at trial, including for such crimes as seditious conspiracy and using deadly weapons and attacking law enforcement officers, Trump is calling on Biden to release these criminals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Some people call them prisoners. I call them hostages. Release the J6 hostages, Joe. Release them, Joe. You can do it real easy, Joe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: To be clear, these are not hostages! Hostages are the innocent people Hamas kidnapped from Israel and is now holding in Gaza, women and children and at least seven Americans.

These are prisoners, Americans accused and convicted in many cases of crimes related to the January 6 insurrection!

Now, Trump’s role leading up to that day is now a topic for the U.S. Supreme Court, which will decide whether the former president can be disqualified from state ballots in the wake of the Capitol attacks because of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution barring those who engage in insurrection from holding federal office.

Watch above via CNN’s State of the Union.