Jon Stewart Rips CNN For Relentlessly Plugging Jake Tapper’s Biden Book: ‘Why Are They Hawking This F*cking Thing?’
The Daily Show host Jon Stewart tore into CNN for excessively promoting anchor Jake Tapper’s new book on former President Joe Biden’s health, Monday, accusing the network of trying to sell viewers “a book about news they should’ve told you was news a year ago for free.”
During his show, Stewart played a montage of Tapper advertising his book on eight separate occasions, before remarking, “Don’t news people have to tell you what they know when they find it out? Isn’t that the difference between news and a secret? ‘You won’t believe what we found out!’ No, that’s why I’m watching. Breaking news… in a week.”
“Nothing could slow down this coming, feeding news frenzy about Biden’s cognitive health other than maybe a report on his actual physical health, which was not good, but now we’ve got ourselves a little problem,” he continued, displaying a headline on Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis:
You’ve prepared an entire smorgasbord based on what you thought would be a relatively uncomplicated story about mental decline. News has the countdown clock, they got the book graphics, they got the CNN Happy Meal tie-in toys, but now doing the story seems almost disrespectful. Can CNN thread the needle? How do you pivot from excitedly promoting your anchor’s book to somberly and respectfully promoting your anchor’s book?
Stewart then played a compilation of various CNN personalities plugging Tapper’s book on-air while discussing news of Biden’s cancer diagnosis.
“It’s so hard. It’s such a difficult time. So unfathomable in terms of the pain his family must be feeling, and yet, if you act now and you use the code ‘TapThatBook,’ you will–” mocked Stewart.
He continued, “Forgetting about the fact how fucking weird it is that the news is selling you a book about news they should’ve told you was news a year ago for free, it’s just fun to watch them not only continue to push the book in light of this difficult news, but to actually frame this difficult news as perhaps even more of a reason to buy this book.”
The Daily Show then played a clip of CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter saying, “The timing of former President Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis is certainly dramatic, coming on the eve of a blockbuster new book about his health and his time in the White House. I’m sure some observers will say that the reporting in the book is even more important now.”
“Yeah, nobody’s saying that. No observers will say it’s more important now,” reacted Stewart. “Some observers might think that these CNN people work on commission. Like, why are they hawking this fucking thing? Is this a Girl Scout cookie situation? Whoever sells the most Tapper books gets a Schwinn!”
Watch above via The Daily Show.
