During a contentious interview on CNN, GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance blasted anchor Jake Tapper and his network for their lack of “integrity” in reporting on former President Trump, accusing them of peddling the Russian collusion narrative as if it was real.
The moment came after Vance and Tapper sparred over accusations from ex-Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly that Trump once claimed he wanted generals like Hitler had. Vance pointed out how Tapper’s network fixates on reporting about these kinds of anti-Trump claims, bringing up CNN’s reporting of the alleged collusion between Trump and Russian to steal the 2016 election as an example.
“A viewer of your network would have believed that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin conspired in 2016. That was totally and preposterously false,” Vance stated.
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The exchange began with Vance calling out CNN’s integrity after denying Kelly’s claims about Trump’s “fascist” impulses that went viral earlier this week and were pushed by the Harris campaign and other Democrat lawmakers.
“Step back a little bit. Look, ask yourself a basic question about network integrity. You guys talked about the Russia hoax nonstop,” Vance said.
Tapper defended CNN, stating, “The FBI was investigating it. The FBI was investigating it, so we covered them.”
Pointing his finger, the candidate replied, “And so you took the words of unnamed FBI agents and put them on your network as if they were the gospel truth.”
“You did it again and again,” he continued, calling the collusion allegations “false.”
“No,” the journalist responded. “What you just said is false. We covered an FBI investigation. I don’t know why you want to talk about the FBI investigation.”
Vance didn’t budge, insisting, “You covered it in a way that gave credence to anonymous sources’ accusations. You did it yourself. Your network did it, Jake.”
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Despite denying Vance’s accusations during their interview, Tapper spent years reporting on the Russiagate narrative until Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 report on the investigation found that the FBI “failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law” in conducting it.
That report came four years after Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation into Trump-Russia collusion, which yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election.
As their interview continued, Vance asked Tapper if they could talk about Trump’s policies rather than things he had allegedly said.
“But again, can we talk issues that Americans care most about?” he asked.
Tapper fired back, “I’m talking about things Donald Trump has said… If you have an issue with whether or not he’s talking about the economy enough, that’s between you and your running mate. I’m talking about things he said this week.”
Vance went on to tell Tapper, “You guys seem to care more about Donald Trump’s past than the future of the American people.”
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
