CNN's Jake Tapper is the network's chief Washington correspondent and anchors both a daily news program and "State of the Union" on Sundays. While no one in their right mind believes Tapper is unbiased, it's still not a good look to be quite so flagrant about it.
And now, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley is calling him out.
On Monday, Tapper retweeted a message from George Conway, husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, calling Trump "100% insane."
This is the kind of crap @jaketapper retweets. He's not a journalist, he's an anti-Trump activist pic.twitter.com/1O9jmucdZo
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) April 7, 2020
Then, he went on to describe it as a "noteworthy" comment when, in reality, it's nothing more than typical Trump Derangement Syndrome on display.
Noteworthy comment on folks in the administration from a Trump critic who knows a lot of them: https://t.co/ZvmMxmENuW
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 7, 2020
Turley said Tapper's response reinforces people's distrust of the media.
"Tapper's retweeting that 'Trump is 100% insane' only further undermines the media by reaffirming for many that the media is campaigning against Trump rather than covering him," he said. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
Tapper's retweeting that "Trump is 100% insane" only further undermines the media by reaffirming for many that the media is campaigning against Trump rather than covering him. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 7, 2020
Tapper went on to defend himself, saying his retweet wasn't meant to be an endorsement, but again, Turley disagreed.
I RTed Conway, a conservative attorney and Trump critic, because he wrote that no one in the administration has the courage to stand up to the president which seems newsworthy given how many people in the administration he knows.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 7, 2020
RTs do not nec. = agreement. https://t.co/A4i1478urj
I have always respected Tapper and continue to do so. However, many of us have criticized Trump for retweeting people with extreme or unhinged views. This is such a case. While a venial, not mortal, Twitter transgression, it was still poor judgment to retweet such a claim.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 7, 2020
He's right.