CNN anchor Jake Tapper has admitted to privately apologizing to Lara Trump on May 20, 2025, for dismissing her concerns about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline during a contentious interview in 2020 that gained significant attention at the time.
While appearing on Sirius XM’s The Megyn Kelly Show, Tapper showed “tremendous humility” regarding his earlier coverage of the former president. This discussion took place as Tapper promoted his new book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”
The book, co-written with Axios reporter Alex Thompson, explores how Democratic insiders reportedly concealed Biden’s declining condition from the public, largely due to concerns over a potential second Trump administration.
Tapper acknowledged that Lara Trump had identified issues that he failed to recognize at the time, taking full responsibility during his conversation with Kelly.
When inquired by Kelly if he had apologized to the president’s daughter-in-law, Tapper explained that he had reached out to her months earlier to express his apologies. He added that their discussion was positive and that Lara Trump had clarified she did not intend to mock Biden’s stutter.
The CNN anchor provided context for his apology, noting that after researching for his book and understanding the extent of Biden’s cognitive issues, he contacted Lara Trump to admit she had been correct.
This acknowledgment comes nearly five years after their exchange in October 2020 on CNN’s “State of the Union,” when Tapper ended their interview abruptly after showing a clip of Trump commenting on Biden’s speech patterns.
In the original interview, Tapper aired footage of Lara Trump stating, “Every time he comes on stage and they turn to him, I’m like, ‘Joe, can you get it out. Let’s get the words out, Joe.'”
Tapper accused her of mocking a disability and questioned how such remarks could affect children with stutters who witnessed it.
At the time, Trump denied knowing about Biden’s history with stuttering and stated her comments were about cognitive concerns. During a 2020 interview, she said what was evident on stage with Joe Biden seemed to show a decline in cognitive abilities.
Tapper dismissed her evaluation at the time, asserting she seemed to be mocking his stutter and lacked the authority to assess someone’s cognitive decline.
Kelly challenged Tapper about his handling of the 2020 exchange, suggesting he tried to “humiliate” Mrs. Trump for raising concerns about Biden that his own book now supports.
The revelation comes amid increased scrutiny of media coverage during Biden’s presidency, with Tapper and Thompson’s book claiming an extensive cover-up of the former president’s condition by his inner circle and family members.
In their discussion with Kelly, the authors mentioned they had interviewed over 200 Democratic insiders after the 2024 election, many of whom admitted minimizing Biden’s condition due to fears of a Trump victory.
Tapper explained during the interview that they justified their actions, including misrepresenting the president’s condition to him and themselves, by arguing that Donald Trump posed an existential threat, and only Joe Biden could defeat him.
According to the book, aides described “two Bidens” — one competent and one visibly impaired. Tapper and Thompson reported that signs of deterioration appeared as early as 2015, after the death of Biden’s son Beau, and worsened during Hunter Biden’s legal issues.
Kelly’s interview also addressed Tapper’s role in covering Biden’s presidency, particularly a CNN interview he conducted shortly after a September 2022 incident where Biden publicly asked, “Where’s Jackie?” while looking for Indiana congresswoman Jackie Walorski—who had died in a car crash weeks earlier.
Kelly suggested that Tapper had not questioned Biden about instances of mental confusion, and the CNN anchor admitted that he had not.
Tapper defended his approach, noting the interview covered important topics like foreign policy and the war in Ukraine but admitted in hindsight that he wishes he had been more assertive in questioning Biden’s mental acuity.
Lara Trump, now co-chair of the Republican National Committee, reignited criticism of her exchange with Tapper last year by posting the 2020 footage alongside headlines about media mistrust.
The book release has sparked controversy, with critics accusing Tapper and CNN of hypocrisy for allegedly downplaying Biden’s condition until after he left office. In response to criticism, The Daily Beast reported that Tapper and Thompson have hired crisis communications expert Risa Heller to assist with the book rollout.
“Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” was released on May 20, 2025, and has already reached the top spot on Amazon’s bestseller list. The revelations come just days after Biden publicly announced he has stage four metastatic prostate cancer, further intensifying discussions about transparency during his presidency.
