‘Staggeringly Incompetent and Disgraceful’: Jake Tapper Is Absolutely Done Talking About Impending Government Shutdowns
Every time the United States Congress inches toward a government shutdown, a small part of Jake Tapper’s soul dies.
At least, that’s the impression viewers might get if they saw the Thursday edition of CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper. To begin the segment, Tapper stated that his latest report on the legislative branch of the government waiting until the zero hour to fulfill one of its most basic and crucial constitutional duties – funding the U.S. government and keeping it open – is a story he has told “countless times over the past ten years.”
Throughout the segment, featuring CNN’s chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju, Tapper did not try to hide his disgust over this “staggeringly incompetent and disgraceful” display of political posturing.
Here are a few choice excerpts from Tapper’s Thursday report on the latest dysfunction in the United States Congress:
Manu, I can’t believe we’re doing this again. It’s just staggeringly incompetent and disgraceful. All right. Moving on!
After Raju’s report:
Raju: Remember, they’re supposed to pass this back on October 1st, but Congress couldn’t get a deal. They passed a short-term extension that led to the ouster of [Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)], the then-speaker, because members on the far-right did not like the deal that he cut to allow the government to stay open. He had to step aside. [House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)] came in, passed another short-term extension.
Johnson said he wouldn’t move on any more short-term extensions, but guess what? He had to do it. Facing another shutdown deadline. So they’re kicking the can down the road. They’re about to pass it in the House, and then once again have to figure out what to do come February as they run into that early March deadline, Jake.
Tapper: You said “kicking the can down the road” – drink!
And finally, at the close of the conversation:
Tapper: Hey, Manu, they get paid whether they they accomplish anything or not, right?
Raju: That’s absolutely right. They could pass legislation to change that, but I’m not expecting that to happen anytime soon.
Tapper: I was just checking. Most people, when they have jobs where they don’t accomplish anything, they don’t get, they don’t – they get fired.
For a little context, Tapper is having an “eventful” week, having started off with covering the Iowa caucuses on Monday, only to have his beloved Philadelphia Eagles trounced by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their season-ending NFL playoff game the same night. To add insult to injury, it was reported that the Eagles’ Jason Kelce is retiring, only to have the star center walk back those claims.
This, on top of covering former President Donald Trump’s campaign/courtroom schedule to say nothing of the CNN GOP primary debate that turned into an individual town hall with former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, can explain the obvious: Jake Tapper has been on an emotional roller coaster.
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Watch the full video via CNN.
