The comment, which the primetime host made during a Friday night panel discussing the state funeral scheduled for September 19 at London’s Westminster Abbey, sparked outrage from people who described themselves as long-time viewers. of his program. This even led to the hashtag #boycottCNN starting to trend over the weekend. “I think the smart move is to invite him,” Tapper said, noting that the decision ultimately “will be left up to President Biden on whether or not to bring others [former] presidents with him at the queen’s funeral.’ “And see if it will go. I don’t think President Trump, former President Trump, would want to be subordinate to Air Force I. And I think, he probably prefers his own plane anyway,” the CNN host added. The funeral is expected to attract prime ministers, presidents and prominent world leaders from around the world, but the presence of the former conqueror of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has left many full of speculation. A CNN spokesperson told The Independent when reached for comment on the online response that “partisans misrepresenting what journalists say and using it for their own purposes is not a new development” and added that the recent explosion on social media networking “has not affected our work at CNN in the past and will not affect our work in the future.” Mr Tapper’s statement, however, left many vocal figures on the internet over the weekend visibly upset. Many pointed out that it would be inappropriate for a sitting president to invite a predecessor who is currently under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly receiving classified documents from the White House. “Not sure if you know this, but the last ‘president’ tried to overthrow our government and is being investigated for espionage for stealing national security secrets at his nursing home,” actor Brian Guest tweeted to the CNN anchor, referring to his raid August. at the one-term president’s Mar-a-Lago home that revealed four dozen empty folders of documents marked “CLASSIFIED” and produced hundreds of other materials considered US government property. In addition to the ongoing investigation plaguing Trump, which has since prompted rebuttals from the former president’s camp and the Justice Department, some have also deemed it inappropriate to suggest inviting the mastermind behind the Jan. 6 attack on American democracy. 2021. “Get real Jake. Biden is not going to ask a rebel and traitor to go anywhere. Shame on you for trying to normalize Trump,” wrote one Twitter user, who noted that the CNN host had “lost” her as a primetime viewer of his show. “Trump didn’t even welcome the new President to the WH as is tradition and has repeatedly committed crimes against America, but you suggest it would be nice for Biden to invite him to ride to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on Air Force One,” He wrote. another user, who called the reporter “NUTS” for the mere suggestion. The CNN anchor’s comments also caught the attention of Hollywood, with Star Trek actor George Takei suggesting he seemed unnerved by Mr Tapper’s proposal. Writing late Friday night, Takei wrote: “CNN people have been asking a lot of weird questions lately, like they have new marching orders from a new boss. Very disappointing,” alluding to rumors that have begun to swirl in recent weeks that the struggling network is starting to turn itself around under the new helm of Chris Licht, CEO and president of CNN Worldwide. Mr. Licht, who took over Discovery earlier this year to steer the cable network away from opinion-based programming and more toward hard news, has drawn attention recently for departures under his watch, including former anchor of “Reliable Sources” Brian Stelter and CNN White. House Correspondent John Harwood. A Hollywood host and screenwriter, Mikko Alanne, called on the network and its star to stop trying to “normalize” Trump, writing: “The man instigated a deadly terrorist attack to overturn an election he lost. I remember? He then stole our nation’s most sensitive secrets. Does any of this ring a bell? STOP NORMALIZING BETRAYAL.” Victor Xi, a sophomore at UCLA who was elected as Joe Biden’s youngest representative in 2020, wrote that he was “fed up with Jake Tapper after he promoted Jared Kushner’s book, claimed that MSNBC legal analysts attacked a CNN legal analyst and said that it would be “smart” for Biden to invite Trump to the Queen’s funeral.” Author Charlotte Clymer noted that “I suppose one way to look at this is to be annoyed with Jake Tapper’s feeble attempt at game theory. Another way to look at it — a glass-half-full perspective, if you will — is to be grateful that Jake Tapper isn’t leading the U.S. delegation.” Several others shared messages with similar content, rallying the newly trending hashtag of #boycottCNN. “Jake MAGA Tapper lashed out at MSNBC and said, ‘I guess some commentators have a hard time stripping down politics.’ Then, minutes later, Jake said it would be “smart” 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 took to the same hashtag to accuse the CNN anchor of being a “MAGA propagandist with zero credibility.” “CNN’s Jake Tapper just asked Biden to call Trump, a man who illegally stole nuclear secrets, at the Queen’s funeral. You are not a news anchor or journalist,” they wrote, before calling Tapper and CNN a “disgrace!” Ray Reid, a former Democratic House candidate for Missouri, simply said the twice-impeached president “shouldn’t be flying on Air Force One.” “Trump is under federal investigation for espionage against the United States. He shouldn’t be flying on Air Force One,” Mr Reid tweeted. The Independent has contacted CNN for comment.
