Speaking to his CNN colleagues John Berman and Brianna Keilar on Tuesday, CNN anchor Jake Tapper stated that he would not allow Republicans to appear on his show “The Lead” if they didn’t meet his criteria for “standards and facts.”
Tapper’s tirade was prompted by a question from Keilar about the effort to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), the chair of the House Republican Conference, the third-ranking position in the GOP caucus, because she had made comments criticizing other Republicans, including suggesting that any senator who challenged the results of the 2020 election should be precluded from running for president in 2024.
The Daily Wire reported in late April:
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) slammed Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) on Monday for not being a team player after she continued to divide the Republican Party by attacking former President Donald Trump. McCarthy’s comments come after Cheney continued to take veiled shots at the former president by suggesting that he was not a leader in the Republican Party and said in an interview with the New York Post this week that she was not ruling out running for president, which was met with widespread mockery. “There’s a responsibility, if you’re gonna be in leadership, leaders eat last,” McCarthy said. “And when leaders try to go out, and not work as one team, it creates difficulties.”
Cheney had told the New York Post regarding a presidential run in 2024, “I’m not ruling anything in or out.”
Keilar asked Tapper, “Liz Cheney is taking a stand, despite knowing that this is going to cost her her job. It could cost her everything politically. What does that say to you?”
Tapper opined, “Well, it says to me, first of all, that obviously we seldom see politicians doing things that might actually hurt them politically because they believe it’s the right thing. It’s rare in this day and age, and we are seeing Liz Cheney do that right now, which says quite a positive thing about her and the fact she’s willing to stand up for what she believes is right.”
“And it’s remarkable that standing up for just basic facts is now controversial within the Republican Party,” Tapper stated, then turned to attacking House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. “I happen to think that the reason the House Republican leader is so frustrated with Liz Cheney is not because of all the excuses he gives, but because her continued presence is a reminder of the fact that he is exemplifying cowardice and lies. And her standing there on the podium reminds us all, reminds the nation what he stands for and what she stands for.”
Tapper’s tirade continued, “And, also, the thing is, when it comes to these lies, first of all we’ve seen what they do. The January 6 insurrection was incited by months and months of spreading these lies. Beyond that is the fact when it comes to lies like these and the House Republican Caucus and the leaders like McCarthy and Steve Scalise, they are like Doritos. You can’t just do one. You keep lying and lying and lying.”
After protesting that he happened “to believe that this country needs a strong, thriving, healthy, fact-based Republican Party. … We need a thriving Republican Party. We need an argument, a counterargument,” Tapper concluded, “We need those debates happening. But we can’t have those debates if one side of the argument is not willing to stick to standards and facts for a whole host of reasons. One of them is, how am I supposed to believe anything they say? If they’re willing to lie about Joe Biden wanting to steal your hamburgers and QAnon and the big lie about the election, what are they not willing to lie about? Why should I put any of them on TV?”