CNN host Jake Tapper’s suggestion that President Joe Biden invite Donald Trump to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral has been met with an outpouring of online fury.
The comment, which the primetime host made during a Friday night panel discussing the state funeral scheduled for 19 September at Westminster Abbey in London, drew the ire of individuals who described themselves as longtime viewers of his program. It even led to the hashtag #boycottCNN to begin trending over the weekend.
“I think that the clever move is to invite him,” said Tapper, noting that the decision would ultimately be “left up to President Biden as to whether or not he brings other [former] presidents with him to the Queen’s funeral”.
“And see if he goes. I don’t think President Trump, former President Trump, would want to be subordinate on Air Force I. And I think, probably, he prefers his own plane anyway,” the CNN host added.
The funeral is expected to draw prime ministers, presidents and prominent world leaders from across the globe, but the presence of the former occupier of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has left many rife with speculation.
A spokesperson for CNN told The Independent when reached for comment about the online response that “it’s not a new development that partisans misrepresent what journalists say and use it for their own ends,” and added that the recent flare up on social media “has not impacted our work at CNN in the past, and it will not impact our work in the future.”
Mr Tapper’s postulation, however, left many vocal figures online over the weekend noticeably distressed.
Many highlighted that it would be inappropriate for a sitting president to invite a predecessor who was currently being investigated by the Department of Justice for allegedly taking classified documents from the White House.
“Not sure you’re aware of this but the last ‘president’ tried to overthrow our government and is being investigated for espionage for stealing national security secrets to his retirement home,” tweeted actor Brian Guest at the CNN host, referencing the August raid on the one-term president’s home in Mar-a-Lago that uncovered four dozen empty document folders marked “CLASSIFIED” and produced hundreds of other materials considered to be property of the US government.
Outside of the current investigation plaguing Trump, which has since spurred counter legal filings from the former president’s camp and the DoJ, some people also found it inappropriate to suggest inviting the main instigator in the attack on American democracy that took place on 6 January 2021.
“Get real Jake. Biden isn’t going ask a insurrectionist and traitor to go anywhere. Shame on you for trying to normalize Trump,” tweeted one user, who noted that the CNN host had “lost” her as a viewer of his primetime program.
“Trump didn’t even welcome the new President into the WH as is tradition and has committed repeated crimes against America, but you suggest it would be nice for Biden to invite him to go to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral riding on Air Force One,” wrote another user, who characterised the journalist as being “NUTS” for the mere suggestion.
The CNN host’s comments also drew the attention of Hollywood, with famed Star Trek actor George Takei hinting that he seemed unsettled by Mr Tapper’s suggestion.
Writing late in the night on Friday, Takei wrote: “CNN folks asking a lot of weird questions lately, like they have new marching orders from a new boss. Very disappointing,” hinting at the rumours that began swirling in recent weeks that the embattled network is beginning to pivot right under its new helm of Chris Licht, CNN Worldwide CEO and chairman.
Mr Licht, who took over from Discovery earlier this year to steer the cable network away from opinion-based programming and more toward hard news, has attracted attention lately for departures under his watch, including former “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter and CNN White House correspondent John Harwood.
A Hollywood showrunner and scriptwriter, Mikko Alanne, asked that the network and its star stop trying to “normalise” Trump, writing: “The man incited a deadly terrorist attack to overturn an election he lost. Remember? He then stole our nation’s most sensitive secrets. Any of that ring a bell? STOP NORMALIZING TREASON.”
Victor Shi, a sophomore at UCLA who was elected as the youngest delegate for Joe Biden in 2020, wrote that he’d “had enough with Jake Tapper after he promoted Jared Kushner’s book, asserted that MSNBC legal analysts attacked a CNN legal analyst, and said it would be “clever” for Biden to invite Trump to the Queen’s funeral.”
Writer Charlotte Clymer noted that “I suppose one way to look at this is annoyance with Jake Tapper’s feeble attempt at game theory. Another way to look at it—a glass half-full perspective, if you will—is gratitude that Jake Tapper is not in charge of the U.S. delegation.”
Several others shared messages with similar content congregating under the recently trending hashtag of #boycottCNN.
“Jake MAGA Tapper attacked MSNBC and said “I guess some commentators have a difficult time stripping out the politics.” Then, minutes later, Jake said it would be “clever” for Biden to “invite Trump” to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Jake Tapper is the new Tucker Carlson. #BoycottCNN,” wrote left-wing activist and podcast host Dash Dobrofsky.
Another jumped in under the same hashtag to accuse the CNN host of being a “MAGA propagandist with zero credibility”.
“Jake Tapper from CNN just asked Biden to invite Trump, a man who illegally stole nuclear secrets to the Queen’s funeral. You are not a news anchor or journalist,” they wrote, before calling Tapper and CNN “a disgrace!”
Ray Reed, a former Democratic House candidate for Missouri, said simply that the twice-impeached president “shouldn’t be flying on Air Force One”.
“Trump is currently under federal investigation for espionage against the United States. He shouldn’t be flying on Air Force One,” tweeted Mr Reed.
The Independent has contacted CNN for comment.
