CNN host Jake Tapper took a loud stand that he wouldn’t allow any 2020 election deniers on his programs. But apparently, 2024 election deniers are totally cool. On his show The Lead on Friday, he performed a puffball interview with Rosie O’Donnell, who claims Trump didn’t win the 2024 election. Worse yet, Tapper egged her on as she insisted Trump is dramatic cognitive decline.
The closest he came to the 2024 election followed her expressions of horror when Trump got the GOP nomination. He noted "because ahead of your one woman show, 'Common Knowledge,' which opens off Broadway for a limited run starting July 22nd, it is a personal story about your move to Dublin, Ireland, with your youngest child. What has that move been like? Do you have any regrets about leaving, or was it clearly the right decision?"
Tapper, who poses as the Facts First hero, pretended the long-running Rosie-Donald feud is somehow a one-way street. He began the segment: “In our Pop Culture Lead, Donald Trump being nasty about Rosie O'Donnell is not a new thing. It goes back quite a ways. And their animosity has been thrust back into the spotlight because not just of that moment during the summer of 2015 and the Republican debates, but more than a decade later, President Trump is still attacking the comedian, actress and former talk show host.”
And he bizarrely tried to claim Rosie’s just being quiet in Ireland, which even Rosie wasn't accepting:
CNN star Jake Tapper proclaimed he wouldn't have any election deniers on his programs, but he broke that promise by fawning over 2024 election denier Rosie O'Donnell on Friday. He didn't ask her about that, but he bizarrely suggested Trump's "obsessed" with her and "nasty" toward… pic.twitter.com/YBhigM45iF
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) July 12, 2026
TAPPER: Why is he still so fixated on you? You're being quiet in Ireland?
O'DONNELL: Well, I'm not being all that quiet on social media.
TAPPER: Right.
O'DONNELL: You know, I'm standing up for the --
TAPPER: Fair enough.
O'DONNELL: -- country that I love so much, and I'm calling him out at every turn where his blatant criminal behavior in the White House needs to be addressed.
No "fact check" on the "blatant criminal" stuff. Then came Dr. Rosie claiming Trump's going to die before 2028:
TAPPER: When you posted about leaving the U.S. you said you might return when, "it's safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America." Does that mean that when Trump leaves office, presumably January 2029, you'll come back or it depends on who wants the election in 2028?
O'DONNELL: Yes. Well, I don't think, Jake, that he is going to survive that long. All the medical doctors that you can get accurate opinions of what's happening to him because his demise is visible and apparent to everyone who is not willfully blind. I mean, he called Zelenskyy, Putin. He makes the kind of mistakes that you would forgive at Thanksgiving dinner, but you would never let Grandpa cut the turkey because it might be dangerous. He doesn't know what he's saying.
The man who arrived awfully late on the Biden-decline train piled on:
TAPPER: Don't forget he referred to the Islamic Republic of Japan, I think as well.
O'DONNELL: Correct. I mean, we can sit here and name them. There are so many obvious understanding of his dementia and how it's taking over. And I know there are millions of Americans who have lived through parents and loved ones going through exactly what he's going through.
And Tapper just played along as rabid Rosie claimed fascism has arrived in America: "It is an emergency. It's not like fascism might come here. Fascism has already arrived." Then he did the promo again:
TAPPER: So the one woman show is "Common Knowledge." Starts July 22nd off Broadway. And then later in the summer you're also going to be substitute hosting on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Rosie O'Donnell, so great having you. Thank you so much.
O'DONNELL: And thank you, Jake. I appreciate it.
Is this The Drew Barrymore Show? Or is this what the CNN audience wants, complete unchallenged Trump Derangement? Leftist celebrities get to act as political experts, but no one challenges their wildest claims. CNN "fact checker" Daniel Dale isn't going to be "nasty" with Rosie.
