Jake Tapper Defends CNN as McMaster Bemoans Media Polarization: ‘People Who Want the Lies, They Don’t Come Here’

Jake Tapper took a shot at CNN’s rivals as he defended his own network from H.R. McMaster’s comments about how media polarization has impacted America.

As Tapper interviewed McMaster on Sunday, he asked the former national security adviser if he thought Donald Trump’s second impeachment is a “partisan” affair, even with the president’s incitement of an insurrectionist mob at the U.S. Capitol. When the conversation turned toward Trump’s political future, McMaster said it would be “terribly divisive for our country” if Trump tried to run for office again, but then he offered commentary on how America reached its enflamed sociopolitical state.

We’ve been talking about the president’s responsibility, but it didn’t start there, right? This loss of confidence these large portions of the population which feel disenfranchised, that lack confidence in our common identity as Americans, who lack confidence in our democratic principles and institutions and processes… We need to look at education and civics education and a sense of our history and who we are. We have to look at your profession, Jake, the media. Why is it that people who lead one direction politically watch one cable news station, and some who lean in another watch yours or another one? Why do people go to the pseudo-media and believe these conspiracy theories?

Tapper took note of McMaster’s media commentary, and briefly responded that “there are channels in which lies are told, and there are channels in which facts are told, and people who want the lies, they don’t come here. They go to a different channel.”

“I’m just stating a fact,” McMaster responded. “There is no authoritative source of information these days… that everybody goes to.”

Tapper later ended his show going off on Trump supporters in Congress and the “MAGA media” for pushing the “big lie” for months that the 2020 election was tainted by mass voter fraud.

“Multiple dead bodies later, no contrition, no apologies, no acknowledgment of what they did,” Tapper said. “Until those who spread the big lie worked to correct it, putting out a vaccine of facts and truth, I fear that the U.S. will continue to be in this bad and dangerous place even after the inauguration.”

Watch above, via CNN.