[LANGUAGE WARNING]
On Wednesday it was announced that CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on June 27.
Based on their reporting and analysis over the years at CNN, Republican supporters of Trump should expect Tapper and Bash to question not just his policy positions, but his judgment and even behavior.
Both had harsh reviews for Trump’s performance after the first presidential debate in 2020.
Tapper blasted Trump: “That was a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck….worst debate I have ever seen….it’s primarily because of President Trump.” Bash agreed: “You just took the words out of my mouth. You used some high-minded language. I’m just going to say it like it is: that was a shitshow!”
On Election Night 2020, Tapper provided a nasty epitaph to Trump’s presidency: “For tens of millions of our fellow Americans, their long national nightmare is over.”
On the other hand, both have profusely praised Biden.
After Biden’s 2024 State of the Union Address, Tapper prompted his colleague: “Dana Bash, what did you think? You’ve been to a lot of State of the Union addresses. Do you think that President Biden met the moment?” Bash giddily affirmed: “He certainly met the moment….[Democrats] wanted him to be a fighter and….did he deliver.”
Bash can’t believe Biden isn’t trouncing Trump, even bringing Rep. Nancy Pelosi on her show to incredulously ask: “Inflation, it looks good when you look at the numbers….Wages are up….There’s a lot for President Biden to tout. So the question is about why Americans don’t seem to be giving him the credit?”
Here’s a brief montage by NewsBusters Media Editor Bill D’Agostino of Tapper and Bash at their worst:
The following is a small sampling of the most liberal moments of Tapper and Bash’s time at CNN, via the MRC archives:
DANA BASH
“Dumpster Fire” “Shitshow” Debate Was Trump’s Fault
CNN State of the Union host Jake Tapper: “That was a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck. That was the worst debate I have ever seen. In fact, it wasn’t even a debate. It was a disgrace. And it’s primarily because of President Trump, who spent the entire time interrupting not abiding by the rules he agreed to, lying, maliciously attacking the son of the Vice President.”…
Correspondent Dana Bash: “You just took the words out of my mouth. You used some high-minded language. I’m just going to say it like it is: that was a shitshow!”…
Tapper: “The President does not think he’s going to win this election. And he wants to bring the rest of us down with him.”
— CNN’s Debate Night in America, September 29, 2020.
Biden “Met the Moment”
CNN anchor Jake Tapper: “Dana Bash, what did you think? You’ve been to a lot of State of the Union addresses. Do you think that President Biden met the moment?”
CNN anchor Dana Bash: “He certainly met the moment that his members of his party, those who are really upset and worried about this coming election year and frankly, what would happen if he didn’t win another time because of their concerns about who’s on the other side of the ticket. They wanted him to be a fighter and — boy — fight, did he deliver.”
— CNN’s live coverage of the State of the Union address, March 7, 2024.
Blaming Trump Rhetoric for New Zealand Shooting
“The question is can he [President Trump] and will he do more to bring together – try to bring together people. That’s the opposite of what we saw in Charlottesville and it is the opposite of what we see when the political calendar gets close to election day. When he knows what riles up his base and the problem is riling up the base using terms like ‘invaders’ in ads that he tweets out also reaches people who are nut jobs.”
— Chief political correspondent Dana Bash discussing New Zealand shooting as aired on CNN New Day, March 15, 2019.
Taken Aback by Trump’s “Flip Comment” at Debate
“Not to sound too corny, but what makes this country different from countries with dictators in Africa or Stalin or Hitler or any of those countries with dictators and totalitarian leaders, is that when they took over, they put their opponents in jail. To hear one presidential candidate, say — even if it was a flip comment, which it was — ‘you’re going to be in jail’ to another presidential candidate on the debate stage in the United States of America, stunning, just stunning.”
— Correspondent Dana Bash during post-presidential debate coverage on CNN, October 9, 2016.
Should Trump Receive Intelligence Briefings?
“I want to ask about the idea that Donald Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee for president. U.S. intelligence agencies are reportedly preparing to share classified briefings with him. You’re, of course, a former ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, Speaker of the House. Should Donald Trump receive intelligence briefings?”
— Host Dana Bash to Rep. Nancy Pelosi on CNN’s State of the Union, March 17, 2024.
Inflation “Looks Good,” Why Isn’t the Public Giving Biden Credit?
“I want to ask about the economy. Inflation, it looks good when you look at the numbers. Inflation is down to just 3 percent. The labor market is steadily adding jobs. Wages are up. Consumer sentiment is the highest since September of 2021. So there’s, a lot for President Biden to tout. So the question is about why Americans don’t seem to be giving him the credit. A Quinnipiac poll this week found nearly six in 10 Americans still disapprove of his handling of the economy. Why is that? And what does he have to do to turn that around?”
— Host Dana Bash to Rep. Nancy Pelosi on CNN’s State of the Union, July 23, 2023.
Trying to Provoke a GOP Food Fight: Did Trump “Go Too Far?”
“Governor Bush, Mr. Trump has suggested that your views on immigration are influenced by your Mexican born wife. He said that, quote, ‘If my wife were from Mexico, I think I would have a soft spot for people from Mexico.’ Did Mr. Trump go too far in invoking your wife?”
— CNN debate moderator Dana Bash to Gov. Jeb Bush at GOP Primary Debate, September 16, 2015
Bash to Ramaswamy: How Dare You Point Out Democratic Racism?
“You took issue with comments from Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. She reportedly said, quote, ‘We don’t need any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice.’ About that, you said, ‘These are the words of the modern grand wizards of the modern KKK.’ You know, I’m sure, the KKK was responsible for more than a century’s worth of horrific lynchings, rapes, murders of black people. How in any way are the views you’re talking about comparable to the views and atrocities committed by the KKK?”
— Host Dana Bash to GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on CNN’s State of the Union, September 10, 2023.
Praising “Badass” Pelosi
“In many ways, Nancy Pelosi is the original Badass Woman of Washington.”
— November 13, 2018 tweet (from CNN’s official Twitter account) promoting correspondent Dana Bash interview with Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
Adoring AOC
“Being Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez means being a celebrity and looking like one, red lips and all. She was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2020 and even shot this tutorial for Vogue on her beauty routine….You sometimes take heat for your celebrity status, for being glamorous….You embrace the power?…How do you use that power, the power of femininity, as you describe it?”
— Host Dana Bash on CNN’s Being…AOC, August 9, 2021.
JAKE TAPPER
Trump Era of “Cruelty” and “Meanness” Is “Coming to an End”
“It has also been a time of extreme divisions. Many of the divisions caused and exacerbated by President Trump himself….It has been a time where truth and fact were treated with disdain. It is a time of cruelty where official inhumanities such as child separation became the official shameful policy of the United States. But now the Trump presidency is coming to an end, to an end, with so many squandered opportunities and ruined potential, but also an era of just plain meanness. It must be said to paraphrase President Ford, for tens of millions of our fellow Americans, their long national nightmare is over.”
— Host Jake Tapper on CNN election coverage, November 7, 2020.
When Did Airing “Untrue Things” Stop CNN Before?
“We’re not carrying his [Donald Trump] remarks live because frankly he says a lot of things that are not true and sometimes potentially dangerous.”
— Host Jake Tapper on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, June 13, 2023.
Boffo Review for Biden Convention Speech
“I’ve heard Joe Biden give, I don’t know, dozens, hundreds of speeches over the years. I have to say this was one of the best, if not the best performance I’ve ever seen.”
— Host Jake Tapper on CNN’s live coverage of the Democratic National Convention, August 20, 2020.
Hailing a Republican (Jeff Flake) For Standing Up to Trump
“You know Joe McCarthy started in the late forties his crusade of indecency and smears and lies. And you know President Trump and Joe McCarthy are very different historical figures, but there is something similar….People are gonna look back at this era and say what were you doing with all – it’s not McCarthyism but it’s something else – all this indecency and all these lies, what did you do during that time?”
— CNN host Jake Tapper discussing former Sen. Jeff Flake’s denunciations of Trump as aired on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, October 24, 2017.
Tapper Questions Disabled Vet’s “Commitment” After No Impeachment Vote
“Congressman Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida, who lost his legs, by the way, fighting for democracy abroad, although I don’t know what his — I don’t know about his commitment to it here in the United States.”
— CNN anchor Jake Tapper during live impeachment coverage, January 13, 2021.