U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) zinged CNN’s Jake Tapper for the low ratings of his weekday show in a very public forum.
On Monday afternoon, Stefanik tweeted a story chronicling Tapper’s profound ratings collapse, saying Tapper brought it on himself through his dishonesty.
Tapper’s ratings have plummeted by “a staggering 75%” since their January 6 record, according to Fox News.
“Tapper’s program averaged 2.8 million viewers in January but settled for only 706,000 in the 4 p.m. ET timeslot from May 31 through June 23, losing three-quarters of its audience in the process. Tapper’s second-quarter viewership is down 49% compared to the first quarter,” Fox reported.
“No amount of his secret begging of Republicans to appear on his unwatched show will change this trajectory,” Stefanik wrote on Twitter. “Americans are tuning out #FAKETAPPER for good reason.”
“I’m sure he will throw his producers and bookers under the bus again,” Rep. Stefanik concluded.
🚨🚨🚨
No amount of his secret begging of Republicans to appear on his unwatched show will change this trajectory.
Americans are tuning out #FAKETAPPER
for good reason.I’m sure he will throw his producers and bookers under the bus again…. https://t.co/lTRSwRmGGs
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) June 28, 2021
Stefanik and Tapper have had a public dispute since late last month, when Tapper said he would not book Stefanik or other “liars” on his CNN show, “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
Tapper told the New York Times’ podcast “The Sway” that he might just consider having the Republican House leaders on his show “if they came to me” and “said that they wanted to.” But he would never invite them to come on his show.
“I don’t think any of them — [Steve] Scalise or [Kevin] McCarthy or Stefanik — have faced a tough interview at all about it, so I might be willing to interview one of them to talk about this, to talk about their election lies and what they’re doing,” Tapper said. “But I’m not asking for the interview, and they’re not eager to do it, no.”
Stefanik then posted screenshots of an email from Tapper’s producer inviting her to be on his show a few weeks earlier.
“Hope you’re doing well! Wanted to check in to see if the Congresswoman might be available to join Jake a day this week in the 4-6pm hour,” the producer said before offering to get Stefanik “on the phone with Jake prior to committing.”
When Stefanik’s office declined, the CNN producer expressed interest in booking Stefanik, “even if it’s for a different show.”
Shot….. chaser, chaser, chaser
Drink up, @jaketapper! 😂 You'll need it with your plummeting ratings!
cc: @PunchbowlNews @politico @karaswisher #TAPPERemails 😂 pic.twitter.com/CwUYPryvvN
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) June 4, 2021
The following day, Tapper lacerated the New York congresswoman on the air, saying that Republicans who served with Stefanik when she associated with figures like former President George W. Bush and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty “don’t know if it’s an act or if she got a lobotomy.”
After Stefanik posted his producer’s emails, Tapper denied nothing but instead classed Stefanik with congressional “Liars” [sic] and called her “a conspiracy theorist.”
Stefanik, who is expecting her first child, has seen her own rankings increase, replacing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) last month as chair of the House Republican Conference, the third-highest position in that side of the chamber. Tapper’s CNN colleague Dana Bash called Stefanik’s election an “existential [threat] for democracy.”
Tapper is far from the only anchor plagued with falling ratings; CNN lost one out of every four viewers during the month of May.
All cable news networks, including the Fox News Channel, have lower year-on-year ratings than in 2020, since fewer Americans find themselves cooped up under COVID-19 lockdown orders.
But while Fox recovered from its ratings decline between the 2020 election and early January, CNN and MSNBC have seen their audiences steadily deteriorate.
In all, hundreds of thousands of Americans have stopped watching cable news since Donald Trump left office.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.