Jake Tapper Clears the Air

CNN host Jake Tapper mocked the two Republican leaders in Congress with clips of former President Trump calling his opponent, Vice President Harris, a “fascist.” 

Tapper made fun of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on CNN’s “The Lead” Friday after the two GOP politicians issued a joint statement condemning Harris and saying she believes that the Republican nominee is a “fascist” and that it could trigger another assassination attempt.

“These words have proven hollow. In the weeks since that second sobering reminder, the Democratic nominee for President of the United States has only fanned the flames beneath a boiling cauldron of political animus. Her most recent and most reckless invocations of the darkest evil of the 20th century seem to dare it to boil over,” Johnson and McConnell said. 

Their joint statement came after Harris was asked during her CNN town hall earlier this week if she thought that Trump is a fascist, to which she said, “Yes I do.” The question followed Trump’s ex-White House chief of staff John Kelly telling The New York Times that the Republican nominee “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist.” 

“Let’s show an example of Harris doing exactly what McConnell and Johnson are taking issue with,” Tapper said Friday on CNN before rolling the clip of Trump saying, “She’s a Marxist communist, fascist, socialist.” 

“I’m sorry, the control room, that was actually Donald Trump calling Kamala Harris a fascist in September,” Tapper quipped. 

“Control room, are you ready? Please run the clip of Kamala Harris calling Donald Trump a fascist, which offended the Republican leaders,” the anchor said. CNN then played another clip of Trump calling Harris a fascist on the campaign trail. 

Johnson and McConnell said in their statement that calling Trump a “‘fascist,’ risks inviting yet another would-be assassin to try robbing voters of their choice before Election Day,” referencing the two assassination attempts on the former president that occurred earlier this year.

Flip Timotiija of The Hill