Former President Donald Trump responded to on-air comments made by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday, in which the anchor demanded the network cut footage of Trump’s event that showed enthusiastic supporters.
During CNN’s broadcast, Tapper asked staffers to cut footage of Trump meeting with supporters in Florida, coming minutes after the former president pleaded not guilty to federal charges connected to a case investigating whether he allegedly mishandled classified documents. Tapper at one point said that he did not want to “see any more of that,” referring to Trump’s interactions with supporters at the Versailles Cuban restaurant in Miami.
On social media, Trump reacted swiftly and critically. The former president suggested Tapper’s remarks are a reason why CNN is lagging in ratings.
“Fake Tapper just demanded that his broadcast be closed down from Miami because there was far too much enthusiasm on the streets for ‘Trump.’ The good news is, he was the only one to do so, perhaps a good explanation as to why CNN’s ratings are so low!” Trump wrote Truth Social, his platform.
Trump supporters were wishing the former president a happy birthday and continued to cheer in the background of CNN’s coverage. Tapper was heard saying: “The folks in the control room, I don’t need to see any more of that. He’s trying to turn this into a spectacle, a campaign ad. That’s enough of that.”
The CNN anchor then stated that Trump was arrested on federal charges connected to his alleged mishandling of classified records relating to national security.
“And as we watch Donald Trump attempt to turn his arrest and indictment into some sort of campaign commercial, we need to remember that the reason we are watching this is because Donald Trump is accused of breaking some very serious national security laws and then obstructing and refusing to cooperate with the FBI,” he said.
However, while Trump highlighted Tapper’s on-air comments, left-wing MSNBC anchor Nicole Wallace also called on staffers to cut the feed showing Trump at the Miami restaurant. “We don’t need to see that anymore. We know where he is,” she remarked Tuesday.
Both CNN and MSNBC also did not air the former president’s speech on Tuesday night at his Bedminster, New Jersey, residence, according to Tapper and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, respectively.
“We’re not carrying his remarks live because, frankly, he says a lot of things that are not true and sometimes potentially dangerous,” Tapper told CNN viewers during his program.
Maddow also said Tuesday that MNSBC made the same decision not to show Trump’s speech, claiming that it was designed to protect her show’s journalistic integrity.
“We are prepared for his pre-fund-raiser remarks tonight to again, essentially, be a Trump campaign speech. Because of that, we do not intend to carry these remarks live,” she said, adding: “We are here to bring you the news. It hurts our ability to do that if we live broadcast what we fully expect in advance to be a litany of lies and false accusations, no matter who says them.”
During his speech on Tuesday, Trump said the DOJ’s indictment is an attempt at “election interference” in the 2024 contest, describing it as the “most heinous abuse of power” in U.S. history. The former president was charged with 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information and six counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice in the case, which is being headed by special counsel Jack Smith.
The former president said that “thugs, misfits, and Marxists” are “trying to destroy American democracy, channeling real anger and charging the President of the United States under the Espionage Act of 1917.”
“The Espionage Act has been used to refer to traitors and spies,” Trump stated. “It has nothing to do with a former president legally keeping his own documents.”
If he is reelected in 2024, Trump announced that he would name a special prosecutor to go after President Joe Biden and his family, accusing them of corruption. Polls show that Trump is ahead of the other GOP candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“They’re destroying our country. And when I’m reelected and we will get reelected, we have no choice. We’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said. “I will totally obliterate the deep state.”
Last month, Trump partook in a CNN-hosted town hall event that was largely criticized by CNN staffers, including media reporter Oliver Darcy. More than a week ago, CNN announced that it would be parting ways with its chief executive, Chris Licht, about a year after he took the job.
As of Wednesday, Tapper has not publicly responded to Trump’s criticism.
