Jake Tapper
Appearances
Apple News Today
Update: Two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed in D.C. What to know.
The outside pollsters, Murphy, Guerin, and Pollock, never talked to Biden. They were never allowed to speak with him. And, you know, they'd been having concerns about his age and the impact of his age on his candidacy for months. But they never got to talk to him. And finally, Chuck Schumer is able to confront Joe Biden and say, I've talked to your pollsters. Have you?
Apple News Today
Update: Two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed in D.C. What to know.
They think you only have a 5% chance of winning. He's the only one that we can find that actually said to Biden, if I were you, I would drop out. He's the only one we can find saying that.
Bongino Report Early Edition with Evita
Epstein Files Drop Today-But How Much Will They Reveal? (Ep.149)
It makes me uncomfortable to watch somebody on stage search for questions.
Bongino Report Early Edition with Evita
Epstein Files Drop Today-But How Much Will They Reveal? (Ep.149)
Yeah, I think you were mocking his stutter. And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline. I would think... Okay, so that's unbelievable. This man was in on the cover up. He lied to the people.
Candace
Jimmy Carter's Funeral Is Going Viral For All The Wrong Reasons | Candace Ep 129
Started the year as the would-be Democratic presidential nominee, and we all know what happened after that. Again, you didn't see a particularly warm greeting between the first couple and the second couple, but again, we are at a funeral, so one has to take that into account when trying to read the body language of the individuals there.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And then that person, this top Democrat, had a private meeting with President and First Lady Biden, just the three of them in a room in the White House after Biden had dropped out. And he was shocked. He said he wasn't effing fine. And he was just very alarmed.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I wasn't in the meeting, so I don't know definitively one way or the other. I know that we have people in the book on background and on the record saying their fears of what was going on. One person told us that the presidency was at best a five-person board with Joe Biden as chairman of the board.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
So we talked to two Democratic senators who expressed deep concerns about what role Biden was actually playing. One of them Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, reached out to the White House in October 2023 because he was worried about reports that the Biden administration was going to release 11 Yemeni detainees from Gitmo and send them to Oman.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And there were a lot of Democrats and Republicans on the Intelligence Committee worried about that, worried that they were just going to rejoin the jihadi fight, whether with the Houthis or Hezbollah or Hamas or whatever. He had a conversation with President Biden about it, and he was shocked that Biden seemed so...
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
not up on the issue, not engaged in the way you would want a president to be, especially a president who calls the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee to discuss this incredibly important life or death issue. Another senator with whom we spoke, Senator Michael Bennett of Colorado, he went to a immigration event at the White House in June 2024, where Biden seemed really out of it, really
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
He seemed during remarks to even have some sort of odd event that neurologists told us looked neurological in nature. He just started whispering and nobody could understand what he was saying. And it was very awkward. And Michael Bennett left the White House that day thinking, well, this is why our immigration policy is so messed up, because this guy can't handle the portfolio.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
He can't tell people what to do. And that's why you have all these competing factions just coming you know, going back and forth and the immigration policy during the Biden administration is so bad. So those were their conclusions, those three individuals. I wasn't in the room.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
The story that we wrote, Alex Thompson and I, about President Biden's decision to run for re-election despite serious questions about whether he was up to doing the job, and then as he deteriorated a bit physically and mentally, the attempts to hide that as much as possible from the public, and even from people in the White House and cabinet officials and the like, is a tragedy.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I don't know how bad it got, but it does seem as though he certainly wasn't the Joe Biden of 2016 when he was vice president.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Yeah. And they would conclude that ultimately he didn't mishandle those documents knowingly, which is a key part of the law. And look, that's part of a prosecutor's job is to determine, can I get a conviction? You know, it's sad. Look, it is very sad what happens to us if we're lucky enough to get old. Very few of us retain our acuity until our death and our sleep at age 99.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
It is the human condition. And that makes it difficult to report on this. But by the same token, we have a right to believe and expect that a president will be sharp and on top of things. And, I mean, just remember, that... audio snippet that you just played. That is a president on October 8th, 2023.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And this latest news that we heard from President Biden, and of course, like everybody listening, my heart goes out to him. My prayers are with him. I hope the hormone therapy for the cancer works. This is part and parcel of the story of Joe Biden. This is equally a tragedy.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
The terrorists of Hamas have just invaded an American ally, Israel, killed 1200 people, kidnapped hundreds more, and you just heard the person in charge of the United States government and military. And the
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Even if you love Joe Biden, even if you agree with every decision he made, I don't see how anybody can think that person that we just heard from and this interview is in the middle of the day is up to speed and up to the job of being president.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I just think that what's important to remember is not only did the White House attack Robert Herr for being, in their view, partisan or making unnecessary comments about the age. They were really lobbying before the Herr report was released. They were really lobbying hard for the attorney general to censor it, to cut it out, that one segment.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
There were people in the Justice Department that read the Herr report before it came out and said, oh, my God, Robert Herr thinks that Joe Biden broke the law. But that wasn't the part of her report that alarmed the White House. The part that alarmed the White House was the description of him as a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And, you know, people can decide for themselves why that alarmed them so much when that was the exculpatory reason he wasn't going to be prosecuted. But then Biden gives a press conference that night. And in addition to confusing Al-Sisi saying the president of Egypt was the president of Mexico, he attacks Robert Herr for bringing up Beau Biden.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And he says something like, and I said to myself, how dare you ask about that? Robert Herr had not brought up Beau Biden.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
He brings up Beau a lot. It's obviously a very traumatizing and tragic event in his life. And, you know, I knew Beau a little bit and he was a great guy. Absolutely. And what a horrible, horrible story. But that said... the entire White House apparatus starts attacking Robert Herr. What a cruel, mean man to bring up Beau Biden. How awful. How dare he?
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I even heard from a conservative Gold Star mom I know, very conservative, who couldn't believe that Robert Herr would do that to Joe Biden, for whom she didn't vote. And it's not true. He didn't bring it up. Robert Herr and the Justice Department did not respond. They could have responded. They could have released that part of the transcript to show that Biden was wrong.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
But that's just not how the Justice Department operates.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
In retrospect, what she said aged well and what I said aged poorly. A hundred percent. And I've called Laura Trump and told her that and apologized. What did she say? She said that, well, I don't want to betray an off-the-record conversation, but basically she said that she's not the type of person that she would ever mock anybody's stutter.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And so, I mean, which I said, I have no reason to doubt that. And so, look, she was right and I was wrong. And I look back at that exchange, and not just that, but my coverage in general, with humility, right? I don't, I mean, I did cover this. I can point to times where, you know, I asked him this or I asked him that or I pointed this out to this person or whatever, but knowing what I know now
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And yes, of course, it makes it – I want to be extra careful with how I talk about it because I don't want anyone to feel like I'm reveling in any of this. But the book was written, as you know – As a tragedy. Here is a person that has gone through so much in his life, so many horrible things fate has thrown at him from the very beginning of his life to today.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I barely scratched the surface. Very few people outside the conservative media world were doing so. Some people were. Annie Lasky and Siobhan Hughes with The Wall Street Journal had a really important piece in The Wall Street Journal in May or June of 2024 behind the scenes about Biden showing signs of deterioration.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And again, they got lambasted, not just by the Biden White House, but by the influencers and all that. Democratic senators went on the record attacking the story. And it was really... A brushback pitch. Just really, like, do not address this issue. And my heart goes out to Annie and Siobhan, who I think are amazing reporters. But that had to have been traumatizing.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And very few people followed up their reporting. And they had all these colleagues, not me, but other colleagues, other people at CNN, questioning their professionalism, questioning the journalism. And they, too, were right. And I mean, I have learned a tremendous lesson about covering these issues from the humility I feel from this experience. But I will say this also.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
One of the things that we learned after we started writing this book after the election, me and Alex Thompson of Axios. is that there was a real deterioration and that the non-functioning Biden that would rear his head over and over in 2023, 2024 was not as present in 2019. But that said, I think that reporters and I'm mainly talking to myself, so please, nobody think I'm being sanctimonious.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I need to run more towards the discomfort of questions about health because they're so important and they're so undercovered in Washington. We have a chapter on. in the book just about other less consequential stories like this, whether Dianne Feinstein or Strom Thurmond, Kay Granger. Kay Granger was the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, I think, or Ways and Means, one of the two.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And she stepped down from the position of chair and in 2024 and like a month or two later was checked into a home for people with dementia. Her constituents didn't know it. She was still a member of Congress. She was still drawing a paycheck. I mean, that's where we are in these stories on these issues. And this was after Joe Biden had dropped out of the race because of his acuity issues.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
So it is a bipartisan affliction. And I think I need to be tougher, even if it's uncomfortable. And yeah, I mean, I have regret about that exchange with Laura.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
The the stage event was not as horrible as what had happened backstage, where Biden had trouble stringing sentences together. So Obama had to jump in and where he didn't appear to recognize George Clooney, who he'd known for more than 15 years. And let's be honest, he's one of the most recognizable faces in the country, in the world. And but on stage, there's this moment after it's all over.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And that instilled in him a spirit that so many people love, which is the guy who gets up after getting knocked down. And it also created a sort of... theology around Biden where he could do anything. And that led to the situation we're in.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And it wasn't an impressive event. We talked to a lot of people who were really upset about how out of it he seemed and how old he seemed. But Biden goes to the edge of the stage and kind of stands there. Now, his staff says he was just kind of basking in the glow of the support. But Obama sees Biden doing that, goes back and kind of grabs his arm and pulls him off stage.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Obama later explains it as he just wanted to get the hell out of there and he wasn't going to be able to leave until Biden did. But it looked very odd to attendees there, to Democrats there. Congresswoman Annie Custer, Democrat of New Hampshire, thought it looked weird. A bunch of former Obama staffers like Jon Favreau, his former chief speechwriter, thought it looked weird.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
It looked like an old man who kind of needed to be guided where he walked.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Not that he blanked out, but that he just kind of like didn't understand what he was supposed to do right then. And look, maybe that's not fair. Maybe that's not what happened. I'm not in his mind. All I can tell you is how Democrats in the room interpreted it.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
They were shocked. Joe Biden, obviously, after the debate was everybody was talking about who's going to say it. Because very few people were coming forward publicly, even though the voters were clear and many members of the media were clear. There were a lot of Democratic officials kept quiet. I don't think the first one, the debate was June 27th.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I don't think the first one came, went public until July 1st. I think that was House Democrat Lloyd Doggett was the first one, I think. But ultimately, shockingly, after the three and a half weeks or so between the debate and June 27th and Biden dropping out July 21st, only one senator called for him to step down? Only one governor?
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
called for him to step down, Democrats, I mean, and a few dozen members of the House, but it's really a very small number. George Clooney, however, had a huge impact on this internal debate within the Democratic Party after the debate that I moderated with Dana, because there's really no upside for George Clooney to come forward and say, Joe Biden needs to drop out.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And what we saw, what was key in his op-ed was what we saw at the debate stage, I saw backstage. at my fundraiser, which was a line that Jeffrey Katzenberg pleaded with Clooney to not include in the op-ed, because Clooney showed the op-ed to the campaign before he sent it into the Times. But Clooney said, no, I'm going to do it. And Katzenberg said, it's not fair.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And Clooney said, yeah, it's not fair. I mean, aging isn't fair, but it's true. It had a huge impact because here's a guy who co-hosted the most successful Democratic fundraiser in presidential history, $30 million raised in one night. Here's a beloved figure who would only make enemies. You can only make enemies from such a thing.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
If you take a step back, big picture, Donald Trump, the president, Republicans controlling the House and the Senate, top Democrats with whom we spoke, and Alex and I interviewed more than 200 after the election of 2024, feel like that was a real disservice to the party, to the country, and paved the way for Donald Trump.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And he came out and he was gutsier than, you know, most senators and governors and members of the House.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Yeah, that's not a big number for a 51 member Democratic caucus.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
The impact of that was significant, but not for a little bit, because Mike Donilon and Steve Reschetti, who were two of Biden's top aides, Schumer went up to them. after that meeting, where a lot of Democrats expressed a lot of concern about Biden staying on top of the ticket.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And in fact, Jack Reed of Rhode Island suggested that Biden be tested by two independent neurologists who give their assessments to the public. I mean, there were a lot of pretty tough stuff said that day. Schumer went up to Donald and Reschetti and said, make sure that Biden hears what happened at this meeting. And then a few days later, he finds out they didn't. They didn't tell Biden.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
They didn't tell the president. So when Schumer finally goes and has his meeting with the president in Rehoboth, Delaware, about a week before he drops out, and he's the only one that I can find out that Alex and I can find out that actually told Biden to drop out. Everybody else was much more passive aggressive or vague about it. But Schumer said, I would drop out if I were you.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
But he tells Biden about that, that there were really only five Democratic senators who think he should stay in the race. And he said something like, you know, I'm good at vote counting. And that's the first time, at least Biden says, that's the first time he's ever heard that story.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
So I think one of the issues here also, and it's kind of a theme in the book, is what were Donilon and Ricchetti sharing with Joe Biden? I mean, Joe Biden is ultimately responsible for his for his fate. He's not a husk of a man. He's able to know what's going on most of the time. although decreasingly so. But what did Donilon and Reschetti share? There are a lot of concerns.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
By the end, you have separately Obama, Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, all of them trying to make sure that President Biden gets the voting data, the polling to show that the floor has fallen out, that He will not win. He cannot recover because it's unrecoverable.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Because the biggest concern people had about Biden before the debate, the reason he was trailing, was they worried about his age and acuity along with inflation. What he did at the debate, what he demonstrated is that their fears were correct. And he never was able to demonstrate otherwise. And so the race was unwinnable, according to his pollsters.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Well, I mean, you described the terrain correctly, and the president has shown himself to be rather litigious, whether it's the lawsuit against George Stephanopoulos and ABC News that Disney settled to the tune of something like $16 million, or the lawsuit against Paramount for the 60 Minutes edits of the Kamala Harris interview, a case that most legal experts say is entirely without merit.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I do. But more important, what we uncovered in our reporting was that far more important people than me were misled and lied to. I mean, I'm just a journalist. White House has lied to reporters all the time, every White House. But they were keeping Biden's condition. And by that, I mean, We uncovered in our reporting that as far back as 2015, there was the emergence of a second Joe Biden.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
But that one informed source told me they expect it to settle for something between $30 and $50 million. It's something to keep in mind, but that just means get your facts right. I do not like what he's doing with NPR or PBS or the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or Voice of America or Radio Free Europe or any of them. I don't like it. We've had guests on to talk about it.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I tried explaining to a Republican congressman how Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and the Electric Company basically taught me how to read and write by age three. Those shows are so incredible. And I just saw that Sesame Street's coming to Netflix, which is great, although not something accessible to every American with a TV.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
So, I mean, it's disturbing, but I think we just have to keep doing our job. And most importantly... Just keep our head down, not get emotional, not take it personally. Make sure that we report the facts. You know, the news media is in a crisis. And I don't count you in this, Terry, because you are your own industry and people revere you.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
But reporters in general, CNN, NPR, ABC, CBS, all of us, people don't trust us. One of the reasons they don't trust us is what just happened with Joe Biden and his acuity and the fact that we in the media were pretty late to the story. Let me say, we in the legacy media were late to that story because conservative media was not late to it.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And I think that we really need to... We are in an existential fight, I think, for a free press. Not that it's going to be taken away, but it certainly... runs the risk of not thriving as it has. And that just calls on us to be as good and professional as possible.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Terry, it's always great. Always great talking to you. Thank you.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
The first one is the one that everybody got to know during his vice presidency. And the second one was kind of a non-functioning Joe Biden, the one you alluded to hearing in the Her Report audio. Losing his train of thought when it's an important conversation. not really understanding things, not knowing dates of very significant events, including the death of his son, Beau.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And that non-functioning Biden would rear his head increasingly starting in like 2019, 2020. And then as his term went on, more and more behind the scenes. And, you know, we in the public would see some of it in front of the cameras or he trips or whatever, but we had no idea how bad it was.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Well, I don't think James Comer's read the book. And we don't have anything in there on the autopen.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Yeah. I think there are serious questions about his capacity to be president. And that's not questions raised by me. They're questions raised by people in his administration talking to us. One cabinet secretary, more than one cabinet secretary, told us that that proverbial 2 a.m.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
phone call that comes in the middle of the night, a national security emergency that we expect our president to be able to handle, cabinet secretaries told us that they did not think he was up to that task by 2024. And that's concerning. Now, what James Comer is able to find in his committee. I don't know.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
There is a lot that is subjective, and I would be astounded if executive privilege were not invoked so that the top aides who really knew what was going on didn't ultimately just decline to answer questions. But I do think that there are questions to ask.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I mean, there are a lot of responses to that. First of all, you know, books like this get written all the time. When a presidential term is over, participants in the term are much more willing to speak than when it's going on.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Yeah, but I mean, it always happens. I mean, Alex and I were astounded by how many people we got to talk to us because very few of them spoke to us when we were trying to get answers to these questions during the Biden presidency. Or if they did, they weren't as candid. So, I mean, that's one, like these kinds of books get written. Two... What happened was historically unprecedented.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
It's never happened before that somebody gets his party, an incumbent president gets his party's nomination, has such a bad performance at the debate with so many questions about what that reveals about his cognition that his party essentially forces him to step down. It's never happened before. And we thought it was definitely worth exploring.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Three, to paraphrase George Clooney for an interview I did with him about his op-ed calling for Biden to drop down, like, I mean, to anybody who says that, like his answer is, how do you think we got Trump? That's what George Clooney says because of this. And number four, I think just as a political analyst here, the Democratic Party has a real problem.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And I think the problem is not as much about bathrooms as it is about people. the feeling that so many people in the public have that the Democratic Party was not straight with them about any number of things, but perhaps top on the list, President Biden's acuity.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Well, I had seen, as we all had seen, his decline, the parts that we saw on camera. His reliance on a teleprompter, his unsteady gait, moments where he was not as articulate as I'd seen him in the past. You know, obviously he's aging, so... That's the one thing that we're all experiencing. So I'm 56. I'm not insensitive to what aging is like. But by another token, you'd call people.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I would call people. What's going on? That looks really bad. And everybody would be assured, no, he's fine. He's fine. He's just old. He's fine. But he's fine. His decision making is great. He's great in meetings. He's sharp. What was shocking is they weren't just telling that to me and reporters.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
They were telling that to Democratic insiders and people raising millions for the party and Democratic members of Congress, their own cabinet, White House staffers who were being cut off, not given access. Everybody was being told the same thing. So when he came out on that stage that night, June 27th in Atlanta,
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I admit, I was shocked, not by his gait, and then he had a cold, obviously, so his voice sounded even thinner and readier than ever, but his inability to form a coherent thought his inability just to articulate why he should be president of the United States.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And whether people like it or not, that's part of the job is explaining to people why they should support you and why they should get behind you.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
It didn't throw me off. I did wonder if he was going to make it through all 90 minutes. My general philosophy with debates is you work for weeks on the questions with a huge team. You go through practice debates. You go through run-throughs. And then you just basically have to stick to the script. That's how I look at it. So I wasn't going to do anything. And also, it wasn't my job to.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
I wasn't about to call the fight. One of the things that I did do, Dan and I had iPads so that we could communicate with the control room during the debate. We could write on it and people would see it in the control room. And during that first really rambling answer, really disturbing, I wrote, holy smokes, on the iPad.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And I'm usually a little bit earthier with my language, but I didn't know who was back there. And Dan wrote me a piece of paper saying he just lost the election because when he said, we finally beat Medicare... Just the height of inarticulation.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And, you know, one top aide to Biden said to me, if the presidency is about two things, making decisions and communicating them, he always made good decisions, but he could never communicate them. And it got worse and worse. And I think the Biden team would dismiss the communication stuff as performative, like as if performing is a bad thing.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
When, in fact, it's a huge and vital part of the American presidency, you know, certainly in the television age dating back to JFK.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Democrats were shocked. They were just absolutely stunned. And I think there were really two camps. There was the Biden camp, which was, OK, how do we get out of this? How do we crawl back? Because Joe Biden, as I said earlier, as a compliment, you know, he cannot be defeated. That's his great attitude. He's not going to be defeated by brain aneurysms, by this tragedy, by that tragedy.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
So I think their attitude was, OK, how do we get out of this? And then I think there were other Democrats who were like, oh, my God, what? happened? Did we really just see what we saw? And there was a feeling among that second group, okay, go out and the obvious, you don't need to be a...
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
you know, a genius political consultant to know that the obvious remedy to fixing what he had just done was to go out and do 15 interviews and 20 town halls and five press conferences and just show people that he was sharp as a tack, as they had been saying. And the problem was he couldn't do that. And that's why his pollsters ultimately concluded there was just no way to get out of it.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
This was a disaster and it was going to keep getting worse and worse until election day.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
um tell us more about why you call it a cover-up as opposed to these are people who really believed that that biden was up to it they did and some of the ways in which they helped hide his deterioration started off innocently enough i mean any staffer wants to make a a president or a senator or a governor look as good as possible and if he wants uh
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Note cards, if he wants a teleprompter, if he wants to do events, you know, in the middle of the day instead of early in the morning or late at night, that's all perfectly understandable. But then all of those things became crutches and started really infiltrating his presidency in a serious way to the point that even cabinet meetings, even after the cameras left, were highly scripted.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
And cabinet secretaries thought they were weird that way. Then I think the real part of the cover up comes with not just the fact that he's at, you know, 40 or 50 person fundraisers using a teleprompter, which is bizarre and unprecedented for a president who should be able to speak extemporaneously for 10 minutes. There's the fact that they started cordoning him off. from people in 2023.
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
So members of Congress who went to the White House Christmas party in December 2022 didn't see him again in the flesh, many of them, until December 2023. And they were shocked at what they saw. And then one person we talked to, a very high profile Democrat who would only go on background with us, said that throughout 2024, he would call and say to top aides,
Fresh Air
Inside The "Cover-Up" Of President Biden's Decline
Mike Donilon and others, like these press conferences don't look great or these spoken remarks don't look great. What's going on? And he was told he's fine, he's fine, he's fine, he's fine. Then obviously the debate came and that person felt betrayed.
Morning Wire
Wisconsin’s Judicial Election Decided & HHS Layoffs Begin | 4.2.25
Petronas is a strong candidate. And he is going to win. We're projecting a win for him. But, Dana, it's not a 35-point win that it should be in ruby red panhandle Florida.
Morning Wire
Trump Super Bowl Buzz & New Media Rises | 2.10.25
For Paramount to settle this suit would be hoisting a white flag of surrender. It would be the network of Edward R. Murrow at the behest of its owners saying, we will not speak truth to power, we will acquiesce to power at the expense of truth.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
There's a little bit of denialism with the president.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Biden's Cognitive Decline Cover-Up "Original Sin" Involves the Author, and Trump's Unusual China Strategy
The White House's response every single time it has come up for three and a half years has been to deflect, to gaslight, to not tell the truth, not just to reporters, not just to other Democrats, but even at times to themselves.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Journalistic Corruption Continues with "Original Sin" Tour, and Charlie Kirk on What MAGA Wants Next
I think some of the criticism is fair, to be honest, of me. Certainly, I'm not going to speak for anybody else. But knowing then what I know now, I look back at my coverage during the Biden years and I did cover some of these issues, but not enough. I look back on it with humility.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Journalistic Corruption Continues with "Original Sin" Tour, and Charlie Kirk on What MAGA Wants Next
They're with me now. Two of the heroic reporters were covering this intensely during the Biden years. Annie Linsky and Siobhan Hughes, they are with the Wall Street Journal. They reported on the decline of Biden's mental acuity back in June of last year. The piece then, quote, behind closed doors, Biden shows signs of slipping.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Journalistic Corruption Continues with "Original Sin" Tour, and Charlie Kirk on What MAGA Wants Next
Participants in meetings said the 81-year-old president performed poorly at times. The White House said Biden is sharp and his critics are playing partisan politics, unquote. This is not the first time you guys have been on. I said it last year before the election, and I'll say it again. The journalism you did was vital. And the smear campaign by Democrats against you two is disgraceful.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Journalistic Corruption Continues with "Original Sin" Tour, and Charlie Kirk on What MAGA Wants Next
So the Journal states it was based on interviews with 45 people over months that were either in meetings or briefed on meetings with President Biden. They do note in the article that most of the criticism comes from Republicans, but not all of it. They said that some of the criticism was from Democrats, although they said it on background or off the record.
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Journalistic Corruption Continues with "Original Sin" Tour, and Charlie Kirk on What MAGA Wants Next
Have you heard any concerns from anyone who has met with President Biden about him seeming a little slower?
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Journalistic Corruption Continues with "Original Sin" Tour, and Charlie Kirk on What MAGA Wants Next
None.
PBD Podcast
ABC Pays Trump $15M, January 6 Cover Up, Trudeau To Resign, NJ Drone Theories | PBD Podcast | Ep. 521
We should note, Kristen, I don't want to overstate Trump's friendliness and genial attitude at this press conference, because this weekend, ABC News agreed to pay $16 million, including legal fees, to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump against the network and their anchor, George Stephanopoulos.
PBD Podcast
ABC Pays Trump $15M, January 6 Cover Up, Trudeau To Resign, NJ Drone Theories | PBD Podcast | Ep. 521
And that obviously will not be the end of this campaign against the media, legal campaign against the media. We heard him go after many other news outlets today. Take a listen.
PBD Podcast
ABC Pays Trump $15M, January 6 Cover Up, Trudeau To Resign, NJ Drone Theories | PBD Podcast | Ep. 521
Yes. We don't have time to go into all of that, but just to touch base on a couple of them.
Pivot
Elon’s Politics Detox, the “Big, Beautiful” Bill's Next Phase, and Open AI's Big Bet
All of Democrats right now are being blamed for the Biden fiasco, and by that I mean his decision to run for reelection and his decision to hide his deterioration. As our reporting suggests, this was the fault of President Biden, his wife, and his son and like a number, a few top aides.
Pivot
Elon’s Politics Detox, the “Big, Beautiful” Bill's Next Phase, and Open AI's Big Bet
But this isn't necessarily something that could be laid on the feet of every single elected Democrat in the country. My personal view is that until the Democratic Party reckons with that, people are going to have a very difficult time trusting them on anything.
Spot On with Link Lauren
Michelle Obama's Complaining, Jordon and Belichick's True Love, Tapper Says Conservatives Were Right
How big a factor was the Hunter stuff?
Spot On with Link Lauren
Michelle Obama's Complaining, Jordon and Belichick's True Love, Tapper Says Conservatives Were Right
Does that strike you as pretty bizarre?
Spot On with Link Lauren
Michelle Obama's Complaining, Jordon and Belichick's True Love, Tapper Says Conservatives Were Right
Never been too worried about what everybody else thinks. Just try to do what I feel like is best for me and what's right. How did you guys meet?
Spot On with Link Lauren
They Lied About Joe Biden, Meghan Markle Exposed, Trump's Middle East Tour
Thank you, President Biden. President Trump?
Spot On with Link Lauren
They Lied About Joe Biden, Meghan Markle Exposed, Trump's Middle East Tour
so the white house physician dr kevin o'connor was telling white house aides that president biden's deterioration of his spine the degeneration was so significant that if he fell one more time that he might have to be in a wheelchair and serve in a wheelchair for his second term but everybody pushed off the notion that he used a wheelchair until after the election this is all part of a larger whole
Spot On with Link Lauren
They Lied About Joe Biden, Meghan Markle Exposed, Trump's Middle East Tour
where the Biden White House tried to hide the extent of his deterioration, both physical and cognitive as much as possible.
Spot On with Link Lauren
They Lied About Joe Biden, Meghan Markle Exposed, Trump's Middle East Tour
How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?
Spot On with Link Lauren
They Lied About Joe Biden, Meghan Markle Exposed, Trump's Middle East Tour
This is so amazing.
Spot On with Link Lauren
They Lied About Joe Biden, Meghan Markle Exposed, Trump's Middle East Tour
Yeah, I think you were mocking his stutter, and I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2151 - Trump’s HOME RUN State of the Union!
You can really sense, John King, you can really sense Republicans with a pep in their step and Democrats rather demoralized. The Democrats, not to be cliche about it, but they are in disarray. They do not know how to be the opposition force.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2204 - Rubio BLOWS UP Senate Democrats
How big a factor was the Hunter stuff?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2204 - Rubio BLOWS UP Senate Democrats
Listen, he's 83, so he's a little stumbly, he's a little rumbly. I can't point to anything that he's done that he did.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2204 - Rubio BLOWS UP Senate Democrats
But I'm saying, I want, not you, but I want somebody to tell me, well, when did you know it was bad?
The Bulwark Podcast
David French: We Are in the Bad Multiverse
He's going to do it. I hear you, but you just started this interview and saying you don't like all these anonymous accusations and I should be able to interview these people. I'm saying, okay, shouldn't Pete Hegseth release this woman from her nondisclosure agreement so that I can do what you suggested at the top of the interview you wanted me to do? Absolutely not.
The Bulwark Podcast
Bill Kristol: Fake Nicey-Nicey Sh**t
You said in an interview a few months ago that, quote, there's a good chance that the Republican Party is going to be is going to need to be rebuilt or reoriented and that you want to have a voice in the post-Trump Republican Party. Do you think that there's still do you still think there's going to be a post-Trump Republican Party or is MAGA now the Republican Party?
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
I get what you're saying, but this minimizes it too, because it was more than saying stupid things. No, I'm not minimizing it at all. But I'm telling you, over here in my ecosphere, we were covering all of these. It wasn't just falling down, it was getting lost. Some of the stuff you report in your book,
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
We knew and we were reporting on like the multi jump cuts in the videos of him or it was obvious he couldn't get through a one minute take. So they had to use those. It was clear to us that he was using teleprompter in and there was some reporting on that at the time, all of which the White House was denying.
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
Now, with the current White House, I have some connections with the Joe Biden White House. I had none. But you did. You did. And so that's. You've been in Washington 30 years, Jake. You guys, you and CNN have White House connections, but there was no effort, none to get to the bottom of this. And now for you guys to write this book, like there was a cover up.
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
It's like you, there was a cover up and there was an attempted cover up. It could only ever work if you allowed it.
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
You covered the Biden presidency aggressively throughout the four years, and you didn't cover mental acuity hardly at all. I mean, time and time again, when issues came up, you seem to be running cover for the president. I don't think that's true. Well, I mean, we'll start with the Laura Trump issue that you referred. Here it is.
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
Do you want to apologize to Lara Trump now?
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
And what did she say?
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
She was totally right.
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
I have to tell you directly and personally, that I regret voting for you for Secretary of State. I yield back.
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
That's just a flippant statement, Mr. Secretary.
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
You may. I didn't ask the question.
The Dan Bongino Show
Insider Exposes Biden's Handlers In Stunning Video | Episode 48
I chose to use my time that way, Mr. Chairman. That's my right to use my time that way. Please suspend, Secretary.
The Dan Bongino Show
HE'S BACK! (Ep. 2405)
I know there's a lot of familiar lies that were just told, but bring us up to speed on what you think the biggest ones were.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
So the White House physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, was telling White House aides that President Biden's deterioration of his spine, the degeneration was so significant that if he fell one more time.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
That he might have to be in a wheelchair and serve in a wheelchair for his second term. But everybody pushed off the notion that he use a wheelchair until after the election. This is all part of a larger hole where the Biden.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
The White House tried to hide the extent of his deterioration, both physical and cognitive, as much as possible. In fact, as you we all know, we all saw as his shuffling gate got worse and worse from 2003 to 2004. As we all saw. They started putting aides around him as he walked to Marine One, the helicopter. That was to kind of hide from public view how bad his gait was, how bad his walk was.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
Talking was his shuffling. And also in case he stumbled again to make sure somebody was there. And this is just of a piece of an overall campaign to try to conceal from the American people the extent to which the president was really struggling to do his job.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
Well, Alex Thompson and I were on the case, as were lots of other reporters trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes. But the bottom line is the White House was lying not only to the press, not only to the public, but they were lying to members of their own cabinet. They were lying to White House staffers. They were lying to Democratic members of Congress.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
Donors about how bad things had gotten. And in fact, Alex and I started writing this book after the election of 2024, and we spoke with more than 200 people.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
Most of whom, almost all of whom were Democrats and almost all of whom wouldn't be honest with us or wouldn't be candid with us until after the election. And then after the election, we found out all of these things. Oh, my God. That when you looked at what was going on with President Biden at the time.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
Sir wouldn't be candid with us until after the election. And then after the election, we found out all of these things that when you looked at what was going on with President Biden at the time, it probably doesn't surprise you.
The Dan Bongino Show
The Left's Violent Investment In Illegal Immigration | Episode 42
The extent to which he was deteriorating. But now we have anecdotes and facts about what was really going on behind the scenes with details that Democrats wouldn't share with us until after Election Day.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I do, and I don't understand the Sirianni he. Simmons saying he was three games away from doing a podcast and all that. I don't really get it. I understand I have frustrations like any other Philadelphia fan of plays and stuff like that, but this is the second Super Bowl in three years that he's led it. Did I have my math right? He's great.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I mean, Peterson led us to a victory. So as of right now, as of right now, he's no. But if he wins us to a victory, sure. Then yes, that will seal his fate.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Doug Peterson's the greatest coach in Eagles history. Yeah, he won one. He won one. He won the only one we've won. I mean, am I supposed to say Dick Vermeule?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I mean. What's the question?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
No, he's not overrated. But I think Howie Roseman, he built a great team and he found holes and filled them. You can't... I mean, you know, everybody loves Nick Foles in Philadelphia, and it was so great to see him at the game yesterday. But that doesn't mean that Jalen Hurts is overrated just because Nick Foles led us to a Super Bowl, and he didn't. I just don't see it that way.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Roseman's doing a really good job.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I believe Tom Brady when he says he's jealous of Nick Foles. I believe that, because he caught it and Brady didn't. What's not to like about Nick Foles? He's like a lovely gentleman, and he's this unbelievable backup quarterback, led the team to a Super Bowl, and then more or less retired.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
So, yeah, I mean, I don't really think much about Tom Brady, to be completely honest, and I still don't understand why they made him an announcer.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Oh, that's a really good question. Thank you. I hate the Chiefs right now. I'm like, I think like all of my childhood hatreds of, you know, the Cowboys and then my, you know, more recent hatreds of the Patriots They're so old. They're so outdated. I need to establish a new hatred of the Chiefs. I think that that's the only fair thing to do. Like, why? My brother-in-law's a Dallas fan.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
He lives right in Frisco. I can't hate them anymore. Who cares? They're so bad.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
What is it, $500 billion for two years?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
It just seems excessive to me. It seems excessive. His stories seem a little self-referential. I mean, I'm just saying. They just seem a little bit like, I get it's Tom Brady, okay. So it's a new gig. It's a new gig. It's about other people now.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I don't know. I just don't like him. You laugh, though. Well, I mean, it's a funny theory. I mean, I think, like, would I dislike him less? I mean, maybe. Yeah, I mean, if I felt like he was just a, you know, a chili dog away from a heart attack, sure, I guess. But... It helps anyone.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
We're talking about football. We're talking about football.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
That's right. I don't cover this. And I did, although I did interview Mahomes after he beat the Eagles two years ago, and it was very professional, just so you know. And I did ask about that one call, that one, you know, that questionable call. But in any case, it was a very professional. I just want you to know I was able to put it away.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
You're going to have to ask the guys who get the direct deposit. It's not me. Whoa! I don't actually think professional journalist has done sports. I don't actually think that they're on the take. Whoa.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I was just I know I did say on air that the Patriots are cheaters. And that I stand by when I said it in 2017.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
And you hate women's flag football. To be precise, I said I might dislike him less. Not the same thing as saying I like him more.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I said I need to develop a hatred of the Chiefs.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I heard it. This is typical legacy media. I understand what Trump's talking about now for the first time ever. He's just putting words in my mouth. Not at all what I said. Not at all what I said.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I wanted to make sure that you weren't sending me to a game I didn't.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
What dismays me is I feel like political divisions have gotten so intense that people on other sides of the aisle cannot see the humanity in Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, whatever, and it's very distressing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
People always make the worst possible interpretation of what the other side's doing, and it's distressing because I don't think it's rooted in reality, although I do think it is rooted in kind of like this complex of division that has emerged in social media and other forms of media of just creating division and demonizing. So that is distressing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
What makes me hopeful is I think most Americans are not that deep down and are not that in their hearts. And I don't think it will be that difficult to rectify, but I do think it needs rectifying.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Wow, that's a lot. I'll just remind people he's not actually from Philadelphia. He's from New York. And the character Rocky is from Philadelphia. And I love Rocky. I'll just keep it positive.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I was born in New York. I moved when I was three months old. Three months old.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Again with the legacy media and the gotchas.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
What's it called again? The ticket thingy? Game time. Game time.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
It was very exciting. I loved it. There it is. That's me doing my own press. I took a picture of myself and then hit the QR code and then got it up there on the Jumbotron and took a picture of it and tweeted it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
But let me tell you something. That is not a rivalry with Bradley Cooper. Bradley Cooper is there with Gigi Hadid in the owner's box. That is not me. That is not me.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Mike Trout, I mean. I think he's the undisputed champion of Philly fandom. He does the hype reels and stuff. I'm just excited to be watching the game. And that was such an exciting game. And, you know, we were only up by two. At one point, we were only up by two points. And everybody in Philadelphia is like me. We're all like, oh, my God, we're going to blow it. Oh, my God, we're going to blow it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
And then the opposite happened. We destroyed. Destroyed.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I have some very good friends who are commanders fans all the way back to when they had a different name. And they were telling me how much their boys were going to spank the Eagles, which is, you know, obviously not so much. By the end, honestly, I don't want to be gloating. I can gloat a little.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
First of all, that dance in the end zone by Daniels when he got them to only 13 points behind was weird. Second of all, all that stuff when the offsides after offsides after offsides was weird. But then also by the end of it, it was like a basketball score.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
By them! Because of them! We were very well behaved. Did we have any unsportsmanlike conduct or unnecessary roughness plays called against the Eagles?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I'm just laying out facts, as Harry Truman once said, President Truman. I'm just telling the truth if they can. But I'm serious. Look, the Commanders had a great run. They should be very happy. Obviously, Dan Snyder was the problem the whole time. And they have a really good team. And I was absolutely nervous about them because of all the momentum and all the talent.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
And I remain a huge fan of Zach Ertz. I think most Philadelphia people just love him and wish he were still on the team. But, you know, the game was what it was. It was very exciting. You're talking shit.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Oh, no, that's so sad. And I do feel bad for the Bills. One of my best friends, not including my best friend Wolf Blitzer, is a Buffalo fan. First of all, can I say something? That is such a sweet picture. I read in the New York Post people were hazing him for having like that old school TV set up. Why is that something to haze? That's lovely. He's a he's a lovely gentleman enjoying a game.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Look, he doesn't need a jumbotron in his in his debt rec room.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I was not expecting it. I was not expecting it. Every now and then when I'm near him, I look at him to make sure it's really him and not Simon Pegg. I will say that Wolf... reminds folks that he's done cameos in the most successful Mission Impossible movie and the most successful James Bond movie in the histories of those two franchises.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
And he leaves it up to the listener to suggest that he's the special sauce. He does remind people of that. And I don't have any facts to dispute that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
It's just like he's such a sweet guy. He's from Buffalo. He's rooting for his home team. It's like, what? He should spend a billion dollars on some... I mean, it's... I guarantee you it's just him watching the game.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
That's so harsh. Although I have to say, I'd rather play Kansas City because I think the boys are going to be much more motivated to beat Kansas City. And Buffalo, you know, you got to feel something for them. Like they're a great team and they've just been cheated out of a bowl time after time. And... you know, they did have some momentum, too.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
So I'm not unhappy that we're playing the Chiefs, even though... You prefer the Chiefs?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Yes, because I think that will motivate Jalen Hurts and the guys more so than if it were Buffalo, which is another scrappy, gritty team. Jake, Jake, Jake, it's the Super Bowl. He's motivated.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Well, I mean, I don't know that they were so much two years ago. They almost won it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Nobody wants the Chiefs? Well, I think the odds that we beat the Chiefs are stronger because of the emotional factor of what happened a couple years ago in Arizona. I do. That's just me. Maybe I'm wrong. But look, I'm obviously afraid of them. They're a great team. Mahomes is a monster. I'm not doing a victory lap. I mean, I think obviously the Chiefs are favored. But I think...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Keep an eye on that line. I'm just saying, it's just a... It's up to three. Well, you think it's going to change?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Oh, you think it's going to keep going like that? Good.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Make the victory all the sweeter.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
That Patrick Mahomes has a deal with the devil?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I mean, as opposed to a deal with the refs.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
He's talking shit. Either way, it's going to be a game. I'm going to be I'm very excited. And, you know, my wife is actually a Kansas City fan. So that makes it that makes it a little bit more difficult. I'm going to have to go to the game just so I don't have to listen to her cheering for Kansas City. House divided.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Uh, it's not very well. It's not very happy. It's not a very happy situation. For you. It wasn't a happy situation for me two years ago. That's correct. I don't know.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
well the daughter will just go with whoever wins the son is an Eagles fan so we'll see but how does that go that evening though that you're you know it's not fun it's not enjoyable like you're sitting there with your wife and your wife is rooting for the devil that's not fun that's not an enjoyable thing Like your wife is sitting there rooting for the bad guys.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Literally, that's like, I mean, I don't want to say it's like watching a war documentary and she's rooting for the bad guys. The alternative is Philadelphia.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
it not it's not enjoyable it was not enjoyable two years ago and i'd like i said i'm trying to get super bowl tickets so i can take my son to the game and i don't have to deal with it this year that's correct i don't want to have to deal with it okay she's she's she's from i mean she's literally from st joe missouri which is right outside kansas city she is actually a fan it's not just because of taylor swift she's legitimately a fan um and by the way i don't begrudge
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
All the young girls out there cheering for Kansas City because of Taylor Swift. Good, happy, whatever.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
He's probably already there. He's probably already in New Orleans.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I think Lurie just hops a ride on the Cooper jet down to New Orleans. I think that's how it works.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I don't know. We'll have to see. Anybody listening out there that wants to help hook a brother up, that's fine. I mean, I went on to StubHub. It's not like, I don't know what kind of life you think I lead here, but it's not like people are throwing tickets at me. But I'll get some, I think.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Yep. Is that a real thing? I don't know if you guys know.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I'm going to end up at like a woman's flag football game or something.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I want to root for women's flag football. I just don't mean for two weeks. I don't want to go. That's all.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
That's really tough. Yeah. Do I really have to pick? I mean, right now, my affection is with Saquon Barkley. He is unbelievable. I mean, I love Charles Barkley. I mean, he's fantastic. I can't really choose, because I've actually, I remember cutting high school, going to the local Wendy's, and there was the Round Mound, his first year in line behind me to get a Frosty.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
And so, you know, he's just the goat in Philly, although he did leave. At one point, he did leave.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
You're trying to get—no, I'm not going to choose between Barkleys, but I will tell you that Saquon is unbelievable. If my wife were pregnant with my son right now, Saquon would be a contender for the name Saquon Tapper. Yeah, that would be— And you can't help it doesn't roll off the tongue. You're saying your laughter seems to suggest it doesn't roll. He's so good, and his attitude is so amazing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
Let the young guys eat. I mean, just all this stuff. And he's just so, he's such a joy, and he doesn't take the bait from... folks like the commanders, you know, trying to pick fights. He's lovely. He's a lovely gentleman. Right now, Saquon. I mean, right this minute.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 2: Talking S*** With Jake Tapper
I said right this minute, Saquon. I actually have met Charles Barkley. I don't want him to be upset. All right.
The Glenn Beck Program
Democrats Exposed Their Worst Side During Trump's Speech | Guests: Stephen Moore & January Littlejohn | 3/5/25
Never heard a president attack the opposition in a speech like this in such a pointed way, even going after to use a rather derisive nickname for Senator Elizabeth Warren.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1545 - The 'Mass Graves' Hoax Is Officially Dead, And No One Will Be Held Accountable
I want to tell you about a journalistic project I've been working on. It's a book to be published on May 20th by Penguin Press, which you can preorder right now. It's called Original Sin. President Biden's decline, its cover up and his disastrous choice to run again. As viewers of The Lead know, I've been covering the concerns about President Biden's age and health for years.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1545 - The 'Mass Graves' Hoax Is Officially Dead, And No One Will Be Held Accountable
I literally asked him about it in October 2022, and we've challenged Democrats and White House officials about it. But Alex Thompson of Axios and I have spent the last several months talking to more than 200 insiders and officials and donors and activists, more willing to talk post-election, of course, to explain the last couple of years in politics and how we as a nation got here.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1545 - The 'Mass Graves' Hoax Is Officially Dead, And No One Will Be Held Accountable
with never before heard stories from behind the scenes, you will not believe what was really going on. You can pre-order the book at originalsinbook.com, originalsinbook.com.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1545 - The 'Mass Graves' Hoax Is Officially Dead, And No One Will Be Held Accountable
You're about to turn 80 next month. Happy birthday ahead of time. Whenever anyone raises concerns about your age, you're the oldest president in the history of the United States, you always say, watch me. Voters have been watching you. Democratic voters approve of the job you're doing. Democratic voters overwhelmingly like you.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1545 - The 'Mass Graves' Hoax Is Officially Dead, And No One Will Be Held Accountable
But one poll shows that almost two-thirds of Democratic voters want a new nominee in 2024. And the top reason they gave was your age. So what's your message to Democrats who like you, who like what you've done, but are concerned about your age and the demands of the job?
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1545 - The 'Mass Graves' Hoax Is Officially Dead, And No One Will Be Held Accountable
How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1545 - The 'Mass Graves' Hoax Is Officially Dead, And No One Will Be Held Accountable
This is so amazing.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1545 - The 'Mass Graves' Hoax Is Officially Dead, And No One Will Be Held Accountable
I have no idea, Joe Biden. Yeah, I think you were mocking his stutter, and I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline. I would think that somebody in the Trump family would be more sensitive to people who do not have medical licenses. diagnosing politicians from afar.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1545 - The 'Mass Graves' Hoax Is Officially Dead, And No One Will Be Held Accountable
Plenty of people have diagnosed your father from afar, and I'm sure it offends you, your father-in-law from afar. I'm sure it offends you. You don't have any standing to say... I'm not diagnosing him.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
The Biden White House did not like me, okay? This is, I do not have great connections with the Biden White House.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
No, that's the point, is that they were not being honest.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
Annie Linsky and Siobhan Hughes did an amazing job in their reporting. And they should be heralded. And I heralded them. I had them on my show right after the debate to talk about their great reporting.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
Correct. If we're going to do this, let's just stick to the facts here, okay?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
100%.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
So... I mean, I'm not here to defend coverage that I've already acknowledged. I wish I could do differently.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
So we have iPads, because you can't communicate, obviously, talking to your control room during a debate. We have iPads. I wrote, holy smokes. Now, what I was thinking was, holy fuck, Dana writes to me on a piece of paper, he just lost the election. And it was just, I mean, it is, I don't think this is hyperbole at all. The worst debate in the history of presidential debates going back to 1960.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
I just can't think of anything even remotely close to it.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
Was that... Did I just witness this 90-minute event?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
We just went through as a country years and years of the Biden people lying and denying things. And I'm not particularly interested in pretending any of it is credible. We are very sure of our story. It wasn't just in our book. It was thoroughly fact-checked in The New Yorker, who did an excerpt of it. And we stand by it. And I don't really care what Rufus says.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tapper Pressed on Biden Coverage, DOJ Charges Dem Rep, Rubio's Fiery Senate Hearing: AM Update 5/21
There should be a lot of soul-searching, not just among me, but among the legacy media to begin with.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Shocking New Biden Cognitive Decline Details, Elon's Future, and Cory's Long Speech, with The Fifth Column | Ep. 1040
You heard any time anybody brings this up, a Republican will say, well, what about J.B. Pritzker and what about George Soros and what about this, what about that? And I guess the answer is you don't see George, first of all, you don't see them out there talking.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Shocking New Biden Cognitive Decline Details, Elon's Future, and Cory's Long Speech, with The Fifth Column | Ep. 1040
Right? I mean, they might be giving money to organizations, this and that, and people can criticize that if they want. They all do. But the idea that like, oh, no, I am going to tell these voters, forget like hiring Scott Walker to do it or somebody on the Milwaukee Bucks, I'm going to tell them.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Biden Cognitive Cover-Up Exposed, Trump's Historic Peace Speech, and Diddy Trial Latest, with The Fifth Column | Ep. 1072
Thank you, President Biden. President Trump was right.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Biden Cognitive Cover-Up Exposed, Trump's Historic Peace Speech, and Diddy Trial Latest, with The Fifth Column | Ep. 1072
Thank you, President Biden. What the fuck she says.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Biden Cognitive Cover-Up Exposed, Trump's Historic Peace Speech, and Diddy Trial Latest, with The Fifth Column | Ep. 1072
Well, Alex Thompson and I were on the case, as were lots of other reporters trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes. But the bottom line is the White House was lying not only to the press, not only to the public, but they were lying to members of their own cabinet. They were lying to White House staffers.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Biden Cognitive Cover-Up Exposed, Trump's Historic Peace Speech, and Diddy Trial Latest, with The Fifth Column | Ep. 1072
They were lying to Democratic members of Congress, to donors about how bad things had gotten. And in fact, Alex and I started writing this book after the election of 2024. And we spoke with more than 200 people, most of whom, almost all of whom were Democrats, and almost all of whom wouldn't be honest with us or wouldn't be candid with us until after the election.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Biden Cognitive Cover-Up Exposed, Trump's Historic Peace Speech, and Diddy Trial Latest, with The Fifth Column | Ep. 1072
And then after the election, we found out all of these things that when you looked at what was going on with President Biden, at the time. It probably doesn't surprise you the extent to which he was deteriorating. But now we have anecdotes and facts about what was really going on behind the scenes with details that Democrats wouldn't share with us until after Election Day.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Truth About the Biden Cover-Up, and Revelations in "Original Sin," with Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson, and Batya Ungar-Sargon | Ep. 1076
First and foremost, I had no idea that Joe Biden ever suffered from a stutter. I think what we see on stage with Joe Biden, Jake, is very clearly a cognitive decline. That's what I'm referring to. It makes me uncomfortable. You are so amazing. You're trying to tell me that what I was suggesting was a stuttering.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Truth About the Biden Cover-Up, and Revelations in "Original Sin," with Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson, and Batya Ungar-Sargon | Ep. 1076
And it's very concerning to a lot of people that this could be the leader of the free world. That is all I'm saying. I genuinely feel sorry for Joe.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Truth About the Biden Cover-Up, and Revelations in "Original Sin," with Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson, and Batya Ungar-Sargon | Ep. 1076
I think what we see on stage with Joe Biden, Jake, is very clearly a cognitive decline. That's what I'm referring to.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Truth About the Biden Cover-Up, and Revelations in "Original Sin," with Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson, and Batya Ungar-Sargon | Ep. 1076
It's so amazing to me that... And try and figure out an answer.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Truth About the Biden Cover-Up, and Revelations in "Original Sin," with Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson, and Batya Ungar-Sargon | Ep. 1076
But when you're trying to tell me that what I was suggesting was a stuttering... I think that you were mocking his stutter.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Trump's Appeal to Working Class, and Michelle Obama's Wild Marriage Rule, with Sean O'Brien and RealClearPolitics Hosts | Ep. 1073
I think some of the criticism is fair, to be honest, of me. Certainly, I'm not going to speak for anybody else. But knowing then what I know now, I look back at my coverage during the Biden years, and I did cover some of these issues, but not enough. I look back on it with humility. What we learned through our reporting is that starting in around 2019, 2020, there were two Bidens.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Trump's Appeal to Working Class, and Michelle Obama's Wild Marriage Rule, with Sean O'Brien and RealClearPolitics Hosts | Ep. 1073
There was a Biden that was perfectly workable, serviceable, seemed fine. And then there was a non-functioning one that couldn't come up with names of top aides, that would lose his train of thought to an alarming degree. And that non-functioning Biden reared his head increasingly over and over. It really seemed to exacerbate and get much worse in 2023, 2024.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Trump's Appeal to Working Class, and Michelle Obama's Wild Marriage Rule, with Sean O'Brien and RealClearPolitics Hosts | Ep. 1073
How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Trump's Appeal to Working Class, and Michelle Obama's Wild Marriage Rule, with Sean O'Brien and RealClearPolitics Hosts | Ep. 1073
It's so amazing.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Trump's Appeal to Working Class, and Michelle Obama's Wild Marriage Rule, with Sean O'Brien and RealClearPolitics Hosts | Ep. 1073
A cognitive decline.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Trump's Appeal to Working Class, and Michelle Obama's Wild Marriage Rule, with Sean O'Brien and RealClearPolitics Hosts | Ep. 1073
Yeah, I think you were mocking his stutter. And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
I've had conversations with some of your colleagues in the White House press corps when we travel abroad how it is hard for us to keep up with this president who is constantly, constantly working every day to get things done and making sure that we are delivering for the American people. And that's what, and I think that's what matters. I get it. I get what you're asking me.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mark Halperin on Biden Cover-Up, Link Lauren on Mulvaney and Melania, Maureen Callahan on Harry and Meghan: MK Media Highlights
But the record matters too, Jake. What he's been able to do, no other president has been able to do if you look at his legislative record.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fed Up Dems Smack Down Trump for Total Failure
Well, I mean, come on, Jake. Obviously, here's the bottom line. We live under a tariff regime from other countries. We have too long- The McDonald Islands is not imposing. The idea that America goes first. I mean, come on. Whatever. Listen, the people that are leading this are serious, intentional, patriotic, the smartest people I've ever worked with. I-
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Canada BEATS DOWN Trump as he PREPARES TO FOLD
We saw Trump's tariff threats work on Colombia. They agreed to accept deportees in the face of potential 25% tariffs. Canada and Mexico are much larger trading partners, of course. How do you see what happened with Colombia? Do you think it will change how Canada negotiates, given the fact that Trump basically renegotiated something by tweet?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Has Disaster Sunday as His Regime Scrambles
President Trump laid out with a giant graphic of all the countries where tariffs were going to be, what he called reciprocal tariffs, were going to be imposed. And you're imposing a 10% tariff on the herd in McDonald Islands. The herd in McDonald Islands have zero human inhabitants. They have zero exports. They have zero imports. They do have a lot of penguins.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Has Disaster Sunday as His Regime Scrambles
Why are you putting import tariffs on islands that are entirely populated by penguins?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Has Disaster Sunday as His Regime Scrambles
Well, I mean, come on, Jake. Obviously, here's the bottom line. We live under a tariff regime from other countries. We have too long-seated the idea that America goes first. I mean, come on. Whatever. Listen, the people that are leading this are serious, intentional, patriotic, the smartest people I've ever worked with. I
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Has Disaster Sunday as His Regime Scrambles
Why did the president not include Russia on the list of countries who are facing tariffs?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Has Disaster Sunday as His Regime Scrambles
But Russia is one of the only countries, one of the few countries, that is not subject to these new tariffs, aren't they?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Has Disaster Sunday as His Regime Scrambles
The president retweeted a post that said the market drop was part of a deliberate strategy to force the Fed to lower interest rates. Is that the president's strategy? If not, why did he post it?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
I'm joined by Jake Sullivan, former national security advisor to former President Biden. I'm sure you have a lot to say, Jake, about the past 100 days in the Trump administration. The first question I want to just ask you is, how would you rate the first 100 days of the Trump administration from a national security perspective, given, of course, your background?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Let's talk about just the breaking news. Pete Hegsiff allegedly having additional communications on private text message apps that are not supposed to be used, you know, in that format. You know, he's out there today saying fake news, apparently sending it to his wife and brother and personal lawyer. His brother and lawyer apparently work at the Department of Defense also. You know, as...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
I think we've also learned that, you know, three of the top ranking people quit there. It just seems like a total mess. I think the former press secretary who worked for Hegseth says it's a total meltdown. That's their own words. I mean, these are the people who work for them. What do you make of that all?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Well, it's really amazing when someone who describes themselves as your friend, as your supporter, as someone who actually came in to work for you, leaves and writes within 100 days of you taking office, an op-ed in which he describes, as you said, a total meltdown, utter chaos, and frankly, basically says President Trump should fire you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Now, I'm one who believed, as I think you are, that Secretary Hegseth should never have been nominated and should never have been confirmed in the first place. So all of this in a way wasn't just predictable. It was predicted by a lot of people who said that putting a person like this into this role would result in disastrous leadership at the Pentagon.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
And that's exactly what we've seen across the board. And we've seen other extraordinary statements from his former senior aides, basically saying we were fired for no good reason. We don't get what's going on. And if Secretary Hegsath can't even run his front office, how can he possibly run the entire Pentagon?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
In your answer to my first question, you listed a bunch of things. And you started off by talking about the damage being done with our allies. From a national security perspective, when Donald Trump has talked about annexing Canada or taking it over, when he attacks our allies in Europe or Australia or elsewhere, from a national security perspective, what are the additional dangers that
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Well, normally when you look at a first 100 days, you look at policy decisions and you stack them up, some good, some bad, it's a mixed bag. This is an unadulterated disaster and it's because it's not just about the policy. It's that President Trump and his team have gone at the core American advantages in the world and systematically tried to dismantle them. Our allies, they've trashed them.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
you know, may not be that obvious. Obviously, we shouldn't be attacking our allies, but from a security perspective, what are you worried about?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
You know, I think the easiest way to answer that question is to put yourselves in the shoes of the leaders in Beijing, China's leadership. They've spent years, even decades, trying to drive wedges among and undermine the United States' relationship with its alliances because they recognize it's an asset they don't have. Only the United States of America has this network
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
of strong capable democratic allies and now what president trump is doing is china's work for it he is single-handedly taking away this huge asset and i would say that there are a number of costs to that but one of the biggest ones is that for us to compete effectively with china in the future
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
We need to be flanked by strong allies, capable allies, and going it alone in this trade war and the broader competition with China is a weaker way to approach things than with the strength of having a lot of people standing with us.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
From your perspective and what you can share, Are you seeing things that are worrisome in terms of China reaching out, driving wedges in the TPP, reaching out to Southeast Asian countries? And, you know, you see Xi Jinping having those types of meetings, reaching out to Europe to sell vehicles there and reaching out to Australia to build the lines.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Are you seeing things like that form that you go, wow, we spent so much time, whether it was with Biden or Obama, building certain things. only for it to crumble in under 100 days?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Well, here's a split screen for you. In the summer of 2023, President Biden brought the leaders of Japan and South Korea, who had historically been adversaries, together for a trilateral summit at Camp David.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
really stitching an alliance for the indo-pacific among three great democracies the u.s south korea and japan a few weeks ago china brought together japan and south korea at a very senior level the foreign minister level and they issued a joint statement those three countries and in it they said we're going to work together on issues of trade and it was anticipating
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
that President Trump wouldn't just have a trade war or trade competition with China, but that he was going to pick fights with their allies too.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
So that's a great example, which we see replicated in China's outreach to Europe, China's outreach to Southeast Asia, even China's outreach to Canada and Mexico, that shows you that they see a real opportunity based on the fact that President Trump is casting aside our alliances to make gains at our expense.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
You know, when I spoke to former ambassador of Japan, Rahm Emanuel, he said he thought the key moment in Asia was when they saw what went down in the Oval Office with Zelensky. And they said that's that moment he said he thought showed. Oh, that was utter weakness. And then everybody, the moment thereafter, they started running military drills that they always do.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
But, you know, they really picked up the pace thereafter. We compiled this short clip of what Donald Trump promised about Ukraine and what the reality is. I want to show it to you. Then I want to get your thoughts of how the Trump administration's handled Ukraine. Let's let's play this clip.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Our basic confidence in investing in the United States is the strongest economy in the world. They've cast that into question. Our soft power, the United States is a beacon of light in the world. They've taken that away. The idea that the United States is the place that attracts the best talent from all over the world for science and innovation.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
When you watch that, Jake, what goes through your mind and how do you feel generally about the way this administration's handled Ukraine?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Well, what goes through my mind is that President Trump thought when he made those ridiculous statements about ending the war in 24 hours, that this entire war is Ukraine's fault and it's Ukraine's to end. And that is such a catastrophic misread of the situation. I don't even know where to start. This war is Russia's fault and it's ultimately President Putin's to end.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
But instead of putting pressure on Putin, Trump is putting pressure on Zelensky. And I do not believe that that is going to lead to a just and durable peace. The only way we will get a just and durable peace is if President Trump does something he has not done yet in this term or at any point, I think, in his adult life.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
And that is get serious about holding Putin and Russia to account, putting pressure on them, building on the leverage that we handed off to them when we left office. And that's what I'd like to see. Unfortunately, we haven't seen real signs of that from this administration. They find a way to constantly excuse Russia and constantly pressure and squeeze Ukraine. And I think that that has it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
I think the technical term is ass backwards.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Jake, you've had the rare vantage point of actually being in the rooms with these foreign leaders, being involved at the literal highest level of negotiations with them. In my past career, I did negotiations for endorsement deals and things like that. But even in my negotiations, you would know you never set arbitrary deadlines
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
against yourself that you can't meet because if you can't meet it and you miss it once and then you show that you're not going to stand by those deadlines your adversary in the negotiation starts to look at you and go oh got it this is a clown i'm playing with someone who's just doing this as a game and they're not very serious at the highest level with geopolitical security implications this seems to be it doesn't seem to be like this is his stick 30 days
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
two weeks, 90 days, I'm gonna do all of these deals. And I think even what we're seeing with this most recent 90 day, we're gonna do 90 deals in 90 days, countries are like, okay, I'm gonna show up, I'm gonna leave, and I'm gonna make him sweat it out because he set these fake deadlines.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Just what do you think about the way he's even handling these things just from a strategic sense based on how you would handle these types of negotiations and others in the administration you work for?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Well, it reminds me of this famous scene in Blazing Saddles where the sheriff holds a gun to his own head and says, you know, don't or I'll shoot. That is the effective equivalent of what setting these deadlines is all about. I couldn't agree with you more that setting that deadline, that 90-day deadline on the trade deal
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
is just upping the ante on the united states not upping the ante on our trade partners and similarly the way that president trump has approached the ukraine negotiations i think has basically taught putin that he can continue to play this out now i think we could see putin also play trump in a different way which has come to some kind of agreement around a very short-term ceasefire that gives him a lot of freedom of maneuver to keep squeezing ukraine
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
They've cast doubt on whether if you're an immigrant who wants to come to the United States to study or research, you won't just get thrown in jail. So across all of the major dimensions of the things that have been America's major advantages in less than 100 days, President Trump has put them all at risk.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
So we'll have to watch what happens in the days ahead. But President Trump has made two cardinal errors, I think, in negotiations. One is what you said, the setting of the arbitrary deadlines.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
The second is giving away concessions, massive concessions, before the negotiation has even begun, which he did when he sent Secretary Hegseth to Europe to say, we're not going to let Ukraine and NATO, one of Russia's huge asks, and getting nothing in return for that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
And there, too, I think President Trump has shown that his capacity to negotiate effectively with someone like Vladimir Putin simply hasn't borne out.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Do you think it's inexperience, the eagerness to get a deal, the fact that they set a fake deadline so they think, wow, if we give this concession, of course the other side's going to immediately agree and the other side's like, nope, maybe you should have learned the history about how Putin negotiates and you'll know if you give an inch, he'll take your life.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
What do you think it even is about it?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Look, I don't think that there's a real logic to this. I don't think that there's some deep strategy. I think what there is is every day you have somebody waking up in the morning and thinking that they can command the news cycle with very bold assertions, 24 hours, 90 days, 30 days. That is about projecting strength for the minute, not delivering strength for the long term.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
And I just think that's a mode of operating that President Trump brings to geopolitics the same way he brings it to regular politics. And in geopolitics, it just doesn't hunt.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
do you make of doge elon musk going in with the wrecking ball to these agencies i'm sure you know really fine workers who have either lost their jobs who are fearful right now what do you make of everything yeah look i have kind of two basic reactions the first is when i heard about an effort at government efficiency i thought in principle that makes sense i could support that you don't need to look any further than the pentagon
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
to see that there are needs for dramatic changes in the way that we procure weapons, that we field our military. And that's something that I was working on in the closing months as National Security Advisor. But the way they've gone about it is first totally arbitrary and capricious.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
They're just sending young guys who know nothing into various agencies and slashing and burning in ways that they then have to go fix, like firing the folks responsible for our nuclear program. But the second thing, and it kind of gets to your question, is just the casual cruelty of it all. These are serious, distinguished, dedicated public servants.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
And that's not even speaking about Ukraine or China or Gaza or the other issues that we could get into. This is about the core foundations of American power and purpose in the world and President Trump's effort essentially to knock them out.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
who wake up every day and just try to serve this country. And they serve Democratic and Republican presidents alike. In fact, many of them served in President Trump's administration and did so with distinction. And there's almost a gleeful, kind of ethos among Doge to send these people packing, to fire them, and to belittle them on the way out the door.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
I find this absolutely unacceptable, cruel, and the kind of thing that should shock the conscience of Americans who, yes, want to see more efficiency, but also want to see decent public servants treated the way they deserve to be treated.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
While I have you on the program, with your wealth of information about everything that's going on, just do you think that there's something that's not getting enough attention that either worries you, concerns you, that is just on your mind that you think our audience should know about?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
One thing that does concern me, it's not a today or tomorrow thing, but it's coming soon. J.D. Vance went to Paris and gave a speech on artificial intelligence a few weeks into the administration. What he basically said was, um we need to let it rip no guard rails just let the technology be the technology
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
And I get the need for us to compete vigorously with China to make sure that we control the commanding heights of artificial intelligence and not our peer competitor. But I am very worried that this administration in its sort of alliance with certain people in the technology industry is not taking seriously
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
the risks associated with artificial intelligence the potential job loss the potential security risks the potential for just an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation in fact on that they probably like it and so i think this is an area that is going to become increasingly front of mind for americans as ai touches their lives and they deserve a government an administration that is taking those risks seriously and i fear that that is not happening
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Trump's First 100 Chaotic Days
Jake Sullivan, former national security advisor in the Biden administration. We appreciate you. We hope you come back. Thanks for having me. Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to five million subscribers.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Stunned as Dems Go for Kill Shot on Live TV
5-10% max. And they say that these tariffs are just taking away all of their profit margin. So I guess my question is, what do you say to people concerned about the uncertainty? And what do you say to people who say, small business owners who say, we need relief? Because they say, I'd love to buy lithium batteries in the United States, but you can't.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Stunned as Dems Go for Kill Shot on Live TV
They're only available for small businesses from China.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
The Catholic Church was made for this moment. I think 2,000 years ago, the Catholic Church basically anticipated TikTok, Instagram, X. You don't have those little Swiss guard outfits and think they're not being photographed. Oil painting is not enough.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Our theme music was composed and performed by Meryl Garbus of Tune Yards, with additional music by Louis Mitchell and Jared Paul.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
This episode was produced by Max Balton, Adam Howard, David Krasnow, Jeffrey Masters, Louis Mitchell, Jared Paul, and Ursula Sommer, with guidance from Emily Botin and assistance from Michael May, David Gable, Alex Barish, Victor Guan, and Alejandra Deckett.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
The New Yorker Radio Hour is supported in part by the Tarina Endowment Fund.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on President Joe Biden’s Decline, and Its Cover-Up
Welcome to the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.