CNN’s Jake Tapper got a lifeline last week that ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos wasn’t so lucky to receive: the support from some influential voices in conservative media.
After it was reported that Tapper had been listed as a “speaker” at an upcoming event for the Clinton Foundation, CNN said the whole thing was a misunderstanding. CNN, it said, would not be hosting any events in conjunction with the controversial Clinton Foundation, nor would Tapper be featured as a speaker at any events for the foundation. The network said Tapper would, however, moderate a panel on business in the U.S. and conduct a televised interview with former President Bill Clinton.
Even so, USA Today editor David Mastio wrote in an op-ed last Wednesday that Tapper has “a history on the liberal side of the political fence.” As a result of his involvement with the Clinton Foundation, he “could face criticism for an overly cozy relationship with the Democrats’ most likely 2016 presidential nominee [Hillary Clinton].”
The Tapper news emerged after reports that Stephanopoulos had donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation, which is facing allegations that the Clintons are using the foundation as a front to increase their wealth and influence.
But some conservatives were quick to differentiate the circumstances between Tapper and Stephanopoulos, two of Washington’s most high-profile mainstream political journalists.
“[An] important distinction is reputation,” wrote Breitbart News’ John Nolte. “Even before we learned of Stephanopoulos covering up his time and money investments in the Clinton Foundation, for too many reasons to count, he was not considered trustworthy or objective. After years as one of the top reporters and anchors in Washington, D.C., Tapper remains one of the few seen by the political Right (and Left) as an honest broker.”
Stephanopoulos and Tapper have worked in Democratic politics, though Stephanopoulos, who was a top aide to then-president Bill Clinton, has much deeper roots in the party. Tapper was a press secretary for a Democratic congresswoman when he was in his early 20s.
“Tapper is one of those old-school journalists who takes a little pleasure of teeing everybody off,” said Jazz Shaw, a blogger for the right-leaning Hot Air who also wrote in defense of Tapper. “He goes after everyone. He’s gone after the Clintons. He reports on a lot of things that make me question some of my own assumptions. I don’t see it. I don’t see where there’s any parallel between him and George Stephanopoulos, who was a worker for the Clintons specifically and for Democrats in general.”
Hugh Hewitt, a conservative radio host (and a columnist for the Washington Examiner) also praised Tapper for his reporting. “Tapper sets the standard that few [journalists] equal for integrity, fairness and preparation,” he said. “Along with a handful of others — Chuck Todd, Megyn Kelly, Brett Baier — he represents the next generation of credible, genuinely-assumed, non-partisan, fair-until-otherwise-proven guilty journalists who could be moderators at presidential debates.”
Neither Tapper nor a spokesperson for CNN returned requests for comment.
