Tapper calls for mandate disclosing US presidents’ health – beginning with Trump

The shift was in as Jake Tapper leveraged his new book through a partisan pivot to propose legislation that would, first and foremost, impact President Donald Trump.

Amid the CNN anchor’s apology tour with “Original Sin” co-author Alex Thompson of Axios, no amount of shaming seemed capable of piercing their own justifications as to how corporate media failed to appropriately address former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline. Instead, a tired whataboutism defense was twisted for a new narrative calling for a law to force Trump’s health records into the light.

Appearing on BBC Two’s “BBC Newsnight” with Paddy O’Connell, Tapper turned his argument against the current administration rather than calling for accountability over the last one as he argued, “This book goes beyond Joe Biden. There is a call in this country, the United States, there is a need for legislation to mandate that American presidents provide all of their health information under threat of perjury because we can’t be lied to about this sort of thing.”

“We can’t have a group of unelected aides running the country if there’s a 2 a.m. phone call. It needs to be the person that’s elected. So, this goes beyond Joe Biden. It should be relevant to Donald Trump and whoever comes after Donald Trump. I agree with that 100%,” continued the anchor as the X account Western Lensman asserted, “Legacy media will be using this book to absolve their role in the coverup — and as a pretext to now aggressively go after Trump’s health.”

Jake Tapper calls for legislation to mandate making all US presidents’ health information public:

“This goes beyond Joe Biden. It should be relevant to Donald Trump and whoever comes after Donald Trump.”

There it is.

Legacy media will be using this book both to absolve their… https://t.co/TrADhm8aud pic.twitter.com/Jpid25eUIv

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 23, 2025

While Tapper continued to play victim to the Biden administration, insisting, “I was lied to as well,” the term-length absence in intellectual curiosity — to say the least — was readily apparent by observing the way his own network had found avenues to suggest cause for concern during Trump’s first administration.

A look back at CNN coverage from 2019 showed Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta harping over questions about Trump’s health including nitpicking his cholesterol and coronary calcium levels.

As the X account MAZE suggested, “Have a look at how interested CNN was about Trump’s health during his first term. They sent Sanjay Gupta to the press briefing to question Trump’s doctor about his test results. Gupta even declared that Trump had heart disease. This same network lost all interest in Presidential health and fitness for office during the Biden years. Shame on CNN and all you losers that work there.”

Have a look at how interested CNN was about Trump’s health during his first term. They sent Sanjay Gupta to the press briefing to question Trump’s doctor about his test results. Gupta even declared that Trump had heart disease.

This same network lost all interest in Presidential… pic.twitter.com/VLiTounUz3

— MAZE (@mazemoore) May 24, 2025

Of course, Tapper had participated in the same sort of coverage. After the anchor had called for less “politeness” from corporate media in “demanding transparency” on the president’s health with fellow CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, The Spectator contributing editor Stephen L. Miller had reminded of disparate time covering Trump walking down a ramp where he lacked traction to anything concerning Biden.

“This is also revisionist. CNN spent more time covering Trump walking down a ramp than they did on any health issue with Biden. It was a two-week-long week long newscycle,” wrote Miller. To that, Lensman added a clip of Tapper with Gupta as they had been laser-focused on the ramp as well as how Trump had taken a sip from a glass of water.

In 2020, Jake Tapper and CNN were VERY CONCERNED about Trump walking slowly down a ramp and drinking a glass of water, running repeated segments questioning his health.

Like this one. https://t.co/BYQK0G6t6i pic.twitter.com/hyq9EwF3L1

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 23, 2025

Little surprise was shared on social media as users had come to the conclusion that corporate media’s days of gaslighting were far from over and there appeared to be no tactic off the table when it came to furthering negative coverage of Trump.

This is their playbook. They’re acting like they’re brave truth tellers for telling the truth about Biden. This is all so they can go after Trump.

— Ellie A (@EllieGAnders) May 23, 2025

The gaslighting here is extraordinary.

Legacy media is truly shameless.

— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) May 24, 2025

Just plain deflection. It’s what they do best.

— pairdimeshift (@pairdimeshift) May 23, 2025

So the talking point has been agreed and is out there. Lolololol

— Frederick Wilmer (@fjwilmer5) May 23, 2025

It’s always been about Trump.

— Soccer Thoughts (@_SoccerThoughts) May 24, 2025

Staff Writer

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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