On Sunday, CNN’s Jake Tapper claimed that recent Islamic terrorist attacks in London had no analogues in America. He also refused to qualify Saturday night’s mass-murder Islamic terrorist attack in the U.K.’s capital as related to Islam or Muslims.
Tapper made his claims and omissions during a State of the Union interview with Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA).
Tapper stated that mass-murder Islamic terrorist attacks as were recently seen in London — which he did not qualify as related to Islam or Muslims — had not happened in the homeland:
Why do you think it is that we see these attacks in London, but we have not — knock on wood — seen such a thing happen here in the United States?
Warner accepted the premise of Tapper’s question, claiming that Muslims were better “integrated” in America than in Europe. He did not explain the mechanism(s) of better integration.
Tapper and Warner repeatedly omitted adjectives such as “Islamic” or “Islamist” in their references to jihadist attacks.
At no point did Tapper ask any questions pertaining to recalibration of existing immigration or refugee admission policies relating to Muslims. Tapper also refused to inquire about the relationships between Islamic terrorism and Islam as an ideology and religion.
Tapper asked if Twitter, Facebook, and other internet-centric technology companies are “doing enough” to combat Islamic terrorism. No similar questions were asked about government authorities or Muslim communities.
Warner suggested that internet-centric technology companies should “curate” content carried by their platforms — almost always created and owned by their users — to combat Islamic terrorism. Tapper did not ask him to explain how this could or should be done.
Tapper regularly describes himself as a politically objective and non-partisan news media figure. CNN similarly presents itself as an objective and non-partisan news media outlet, billing itself as “The Most Trusted Name In News.”
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