Top CNN anchor Jake Tapper defended his cable network's coverage of Donald Trump and suggested its stories about the commander in chief would focus more on policy if he began to act "more presidential."
"I think that our coverage follows his lead," Tapper told Stephen Colbert in an appearance Wednesday night on CBS' "The Late Show."
"I think that if he pivoted as he claimed he would and was more presidential — if he didn't send out nasty tweets about Nordstrom [dropping his daughter Ivanka's clothing line] or judges or go to the National Prayer Breakfast and talk about how bad ['The Apprentice' host] Arnold Schwarzenegger's ratings are . . . if he didn't do that sort of thing — I would be delighted, frankly, to cover the policies more."
Trump has had a contentious, sometimes outright hostile, relationship with CNN, which he's labelled "fake news"— a claim his White House adviser Kellyanne Conway tried to temper this week by insisting the network's Trump coverage was mostly OK.
"I don't think CNN is fake news. I think there are some reports everywhere, in print, on TV, on radio, in conversation, that are not well-researched and are sometimes based on falsehoods," Conway said.
After Colbert read off a list of Trump's blasts of CNN — "a disgrace to the broadcasting industry," "unwatchable" and "disgusting" — Tapper responded: "He certainly watches us a lot."
Asked how CNN employees were taking Trump's angry missives, Tapper said: "I don't think anybody cares . . . My job is not to be liked . . . My job is to tell the truth, to deliver the facts and hold people accountable."
Tapper also said he believed there were more leaks coming out of Trump's White House than previous administrations.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.