This CNN Jake Tapper clip caught my attention because it mentioned comments on X. But the more I listened, the more I realized it’s the same narrative I keep hearing from corporate and liberal media: Trump’s plans for sweeping cuts worry Republicans.
Transcript begins at-
CNN Reporter: I’ve read a lot of the comments on X saying that this was a room full of liberals.
Democrat Voter Ginny Lim, GA’s 7th District: No, it was not a room full of liberals. It was a room full of average, normal everyday Americans who are afraid of what is happening with our country.
CNN Voice: Ginny Lim, a Democrat from McCormick’s district, tells me this White House post is what compelled her to attend the town hall.
Democrat Voter Ginny Lim, GA’s 7th District: Tyranny is rising in the White House, and a man has declared himself our king. So I would like to know, rather the people would like to know what you congressman and your fellow congressman are going to do to reign in the megalomaniac in the White House.
PEOPLE IN THE ROOM CLAP AND CHEER
Congressman McCormick, GA’s 7th District: When you talk about tyranny, when you talk about presidential power, I remember having the same discussion with Republicans when Biden was elected.
PEOPLE IN THE ROOM SHOUT
CNN Voice: Brant Sturgill tells me he proudly voted for Trump three times. But when Trump called Ukraine’s president a dictator.
Trump Voter Brant Sturgill, GA’s 7th District: This is an embarrassment on the world stage, what was said by our president and I voted for Trump. You can’t, you can’t do that.
CNN Voice: And on DOGE.
Trump Voter Brant Sturgill, GA’s 7th District: I think it’s a mistake to do it too rapidly.
CNN Voice: Maggie Goldman, a Democrat, hopes a turn out as emblematic of a larger movement.
Democrat Voter Maggie Goldman, GA’s 7th District: Hopefully it’s an opportunity to show other states that they can also get out and go to these town halls with their representatives.
CNN Reporter: The 7th District is strongly Republican. Trump won here by over 20 points, McCormick by just north of 30 points. And Jake, I did find it interesting that I also heard appreciation from some of Mccormick’s constituents who came here to criticize him, but an appreciation that he held the town hall in the first place.
Jake Tapper: All right, Isabel Rosales, thank you so much, really appreciated. Congressman McCormick was, of course, not the only Republican facing backlash from constituents at town halls this week. Take a look at this moment from Republican Oregon Congressman Cliff Bentz’s town hall.
Constituents: So you tell those 10,000 people that’s okay, you lost ten percent of our workforce.
Another Constituent: Shut up and let him talk.
Constituent: I will not sir!
Jake Tapper: With me now is Congressman Bentz from the 2nd District of Oregon. Were you surprised at all by the frustration you heard from your constituents about these firings?
Isn’t it funny how Tapper featured two Democrats and a three-time Trump voter who got upset when Trump called Ukraine’s president a dictator, saying, “This is an embarrassment on the world stage, what was said by our president and I voted for Trump. You can’t, you can’t do that.” Yet that three-time Trump voter seems fine with Democrats calling Trump a dictator.
Tapper may have brought on Cliff Bentz, a Republican Congressman from Oregon, but Jake asked him questions that allowed him to push the narrative, including fully loaded questions like the one below.
Tapper’s second question to Cliff Bentz was:
“So there are different issues going on. One of them is just the downsizing itself. The other one is the way that the downsizing is being done, with very little transparency and no apparent compassion. Um, I want to read to you what Republican Senator John Curtis from Utah said about the firings. Quote, he said: ‘I think if there’s one thing I can change about the DOGE, it’s that it’s moving so fast it’s not really factoring in the human element. These are real lives, real people. They have kids. And we’re really adding a tremendous amount of stress, even to the jobs that are not going to go away.’ Do you have any issues yourself with the way these layoffs and firings are taking place?”
After Bentz’s appearance, Tapper said that he had booked Georgia Congressman McCormick for the show and they were “under the impression” he was going to appear, but “he canceled less than an hour ago.”
Tapper ended this 12-minute segment by asking, “Could Republican outrage over government cuts be enough to reignite a fire under Democrats?”—as if Democrats need Republican outrage to be motivated or their fire ever stopped burning. He just wanted to repeat “Republican outrage over government cuts” one more time before the break.
After all that, Jake Tapper was going to discuss Bill Gates’s personal life, including Gates’s statement that he thinks he might be on the autism spectrum. But the fake news doesn’t stop there. Tapper is also going to talk about the Yankees now being allowed to grow facial hair.
This is biased reporting with a slant. Then, on top of that, Jake Tapper wants to talk about the Yankees growing facial hair. It’s a ridiculous choice that ignores real issues. Apparently, the only ones watching Tapper’s show are people who’d rather hear about beards and cherry-picked town hall soundbites—except I also tuned in for 15 minutes, just for the sake of this post.