Jake Tapper Hits Biden White House for Implying Skeptical Reporters are Disloyal: Government Has ‘Openly Lied’
CNN’s Jake Tapper ripped the Biden administration on Thursday after two government spokespeople implied that tough questions from reporters equate to disloyalty to the country.
American forces went after ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi Thursday in Syria.
The terror leader detonated a bomb, killing himself and his wife and children, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference.
Another child was also reportedly killed during a firefight, and no one representing the U.S. government could offer a definitive answer about how the child died.
A reporter with NPR asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday afternoon if the administration was prepared to be transparent about potential civilian deaths. Per the official White House transcript, the exchange went:
Q But will the U.S. provide any evidence? Because there may be people that are skeptical of the events that took place and what happened to the civilians.
MS. PSAKI: Skeptical of the U.S. military’s assessment when they went and took out an ISIS terror- — the leader of ISIS?
Q Yes.
MS. PSAKI: That they are not providing accurate information —
Q Yes.
MS. PSAKI: — and ISIS is providing accurate information?
Q Well, not ISIS, but, I mean, the U.S. has not always been straightforward about what happens with civilians. And, I mean, that is a fact.
On The Lead Thursday, Tapper aired the Psaki clip and commented on friction between the media and the U.S. government.
Tapper said, “So, that’s Jen Psaki squaring off with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe, who’s often at this table, suggesting that if you are skeptical of what the U.S. Pentagon claims, then you are on the side of ISIS. ISIS is providing accurate information.”
He then aired a clip from Tuesday in which State Department spokesman Ned Price told a reporter: “If you doubt the credibility of the U.S. government, of the British government, of other governments and want to, you know, find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do.”
Tapper then addressed CNN’s Abby Phillip as he laid into the notion that journalists are supposed to take the White House at face value:
Okay. So, Abby, the reason I do that is because what the Biden administration is doing here is saying to journalists, whose jobs are to be skeptical, and let us also note that U.S. intelligence and the Pentagon have not only gotten things wrong before, they have openly lied to the American people before. Then you have psaki and Price saying, “Oh, so you side with our enemies?
Phillip noted that statements from the government, specifically concerning military strikes, require a healthy degree of skepticism.
The CNN contributor highlighted a drone strike in Afghanistan last summer, which it turned out killed only civilians, as evidence of the need to be skeptical and ask tough questions.
CNN’s Alyssa Farrah Griffin and Paul Begala then discussed the role of the media with regard to military actions, like Thursday’s Syria raid, with Tapper and Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post.
Tapper asked, “Wasn’t Psaki saying that there’s only two sources of information on the ground, ISIS or the U.S. Military?”
He later concluded:
There’s a long history in this country, that long predates the existence of everybody at this table, except for me and Paul, of the U.S. Government lying to the American people. Lying for the right reasons maybe, or because they had the wrong information or they’re backing their guys, but it is our job to challenge.
Watch above, via CNN.
