CNN's Jake Tapper has previously denied allegations that he told rising GOP star Sean Parnell to consider running in another congressional district. Parnell is challenging Democrat incumbent Conor Lamb for Pennsylvania's 17th district. The 17th is one of 30 congressional districts that President Trump won in 2016 but that Democrats currently control. Republicans are seeking to win back 17 of those seats to retake control over the lower chamber, and Tapper doesn't want that to happen. Tapper has reportedly denied telling Parnell to run in another district in an effort to help Democrats retain control of the House. But we now know, thanks to a private message obtained by Fox News, that the CNN anchor has been lying. Imagine that.
Breitbart's Matthew Boyle reported on Sunday that sources familiar with the interaction said Tapper communicated with Parnell -- via "text messages, Twitter direct messages, and in a phone call" -- encouraging the GOP challenger to run in a different congressional district.
Former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, who has campaigned for Parnell in Pennsylvania, asked Tapper himself on Sunday whether or not the CNN anchor had advised Parnell to not run against Lamb. Tapper, we now know, lied to the former intelligence chief -- not a smart move -- by denying the charge.
But a November message from Tapper to Parnell shows the CNN anchor admitting to efforts to talk the GOP challenger into running in a safer Republican district. Tapper pretends to be a reporter, but he's a Democrat activist just like everyone else at CNN.
This is a DM Tapper sent Parnell pic.twitter.com/SPA8YndGwu
— Brian Flood (@briansflood) September 10, 2020
It was never hard to believe that Tapper, a former Democratic staffer from Pennsylvania, who worked for a gun control group, a Democratic congresswoman, and is famous for spewing his left-wing biases and anti-Trump hatred every night on TV, might have just been up to some funny business in his home state of Pennsylvania.
