Overview
- Hunter Biden used Don Lemon’s podcast Wednesday to call CNN journalist Jake Tapper “a complete and utter a**hole” and say Tapper is “full of f*cking sh*t,” remarks published by multiple outlets the same day.
- Biden said he has known Tapper for 25 years, that he dislikes him personally, and that he will not temper his criticism because he is “not running for anything.”
- A CNN spokesperson responded to the comments by calling Tapper a respected journalist and saying the remarks were “frankly ridiculous” and undeserving of news coverage.
- The confrontation draws directly from Tapper’s 2025 book, Original Sin, which questioned President Biden’s fitness and described efforts by the White House to limit press access, and reporters noted earlier, limited-sourcing claims of past tensions between Hunter and Tapper.
- The episode is a public reputational clash that is playing out across ideologically different outlets and could keep attention on media treatment of the Biden family and on how Tapper’s reporting is received by Biden allies.