‘Moral Posturing’: Jake Tapper and Chris Wallace Air Disagreements Over Booking ‘Big Lie’ Republicans

CNN’s Jake Tapper and Fox News Chris Wallace are at odds over Sunday show booking policies in Politico’s Playbook newsletter this Friday morning. The differing positions — and Tapper’s critical response to Wallace’s stance — neatly illustrate the rivalry between two giants of cable news journalism.

At issue is the practice of interviewing Republican guests who have promoted election fraud conspiracies, one which Tapper spoke out about on the New York Times podcast Sway, hosted by Kara Swisher.

“It’s not a policy, but it’s a philosophy where I just don’t want to deal with it,” Tapper said, adding “There’s about a third of the House Republican caucus that I am willing to book. I could name them to you if you want.”As Politico framed it, “Tapper makes a fair point: If they’re willing to lie about the election, what else are they willing to lie about to his audience?”

But as any good shit-stirrer reporter does, Politico’s Playbook team sought out the opinion of other cable news hosts like Chuck Todd, Joe Scarborough, and Mika Brzezinski regarding the best approach in booking GOP guests who enabled the baseless conspiracy of a “stolen” election. But it was Wallace’s take that stood out.

Wallace and Tapper are each other’s only cable news equal in terms of journalistic bona fides, intellectual heft and, some might say, self-confidence and/or ego.  Wallace wasn’t shy about his position on banning conspiracist Republicans from cable news, dismissing such stands as “moral posturing.” We should note that Wallace did not mention Tapper or CNN in his statement, and it’s not clear Wallace is calling anyone out specifically.

Wallace said to Politico:

“I don’t think moral posturing goes well with news gathering,” Wallace told us in a statement, adding: “There are plenty of people I would like to have on Fox News Sunday that voted to challenge the election — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy for one. And I don’t have any rule about what the first question has to be. I have asked plenty of guests about voting to challenge the election and about Trump’s role in the January 6th insurrection. But I cover the news, wherever that takes me.”

Wallace’s argument has legitimacy. His point about “moral posturing” rings true to anyone whose eyes have rolled into the back of their head when listening to a cable news host take a grand stand against dishonesty in politics.

Drawing a line around which newsmakers one chooses to book and interview sets a more narrow standard. There is also the “sunlight is the best disinfectant” doctrine at play, and speaking personally, I’d love nothing more than to watch Tapper grill Steve Scalise, Ted Cruz, or Josh Hawley over their willful delivery of misinformation on the 2020 election and Jan. 6.

Reminding subscribers why Politico Playbook is a must-read, the editors went BACK to Tapper, allowing him to respond to Wallace’s take on this cable news conundrum. Tapper did not disappoint in his reply. From Politico (emphasis mine):

We shared that with Tapper, and he sent us this statement in response: “This isn’t a policy, it’s a discussion I think everyone in the news media should be having. Should those who shared the election lie that incited the deadly attack on the Capitol and that continues to erode confidence in our democracy be invited onto our airwaves to continue to spread the Big Lie? Can our viewers count on these politicians to tell the truth about other topics? This isn’t an easy conversation for some folks — especially for journalists who work for organizations where the Big Lie was platformed — but that’s all the more reason to have this conversation.”

Ouch.

Tapper is absolutely correct in calling out Fox News here. The very same Fox News that was third place in ratings around the time of the insurrection, but has surged back to first — not because it’s taking a more nuanced or moderate approach in its coverage, but because it has clearly turned right. Hard right. And that means a willful, shameful failure in coverage of former President Donald Trump repeatedly lying about a stolen election that he lost. Yes. Trump is a loser, and after a tumultuous start to the year, Fox News has proven incapable of calling him the loser that he is.

Tapper and Wallace are both smart and terrific journalists, and their Sunday show interviews draw animus from both sides of the aisle. I’m old enough to remember when Tapper was lauded by conservatives for his tough questioning of the Obama administration, and Wallace is himself a lightning rod of criticism from partisan hacks on the left and right.

But I ultimately side with Tapper here. The “Big Lie” of election fraud is a persistent and malignant cancer on the nation’s body politic, and it will only continue to metastasize until Fox News delivers radiation therapy to its massive audience. That said, it would be good to see Tapper confront Republican insurrection-inspirers, and all due credit to Wallace for taking his stance.

Now, let’s all go grab a beer and settle this with a good old-fashioned arm-wrestling match, shall we boys?

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.