The mainstream media has always played fast and loose with the facts. But this is just an outright lie.
And now CNN’s Jake Tapper is running for the hills after making an embarrassing on-air blunder.
Tapper’s On-Air Faceplant: Calling a Black Suspect “a White Man”
CNN’s Jake Tapper kicked off Thursday’s episode of “The Lead” with a blunder that instantly lit up conservative corners of the internet: while discussing the freshly arrested D.C. pipe-bomb suspect Brian Cole Jr., Tapper described him as “a white man.”
Cole is black. The mugshot and family photos had already been circulating for hours.
Instant Internet Pile-On (and a Few Mercy Laughs)
The backlash was swift and merciless.
“You can’t make this stuff up,” conservative pundit Benny Johnson wrote on X.
“Jake is sharp as a tack. Nothing gets past him. Dude’s elite!” another deadpanned.
“Its impossible that he does not know what he is doing,” one user speculated.
Conservative influencer Nick Sortor accused CNN of pushing “anti-white rhetoric.”
A handful of commenters gave Tapper an out:
“Not a fan of Jake, but the guys name is Brian – that may be a top 3 white name. So understandable mistake,” one joked.
“Clearly he never looked at the graphics. Probably just read a script,” another suggested.
Five Lost Years, One Quick Arrest After the Changing of the Guard
Cole, 30, was arrested at his Woodbridge, Virginia home early Thursday and charged with use of an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction.
Investigators say he’s the hooded figure who planted viable pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC headquarters on the eve of January 6, 2021.
For nearly five years the case gathered dust under the Biden Justice Department, even as incoming U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel publicly complained that key evidence had been “collecting dust.”
Once the Trump administration took office, the investigation suddenly sprang to life; the dormant $500,000 reward was renewed, though in the end the feds didn’t need the public’s help.
Authorities allege Cole began assembling his crude galvanized-pipe bombs as far back as 2019, methodically buying components from Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, and other big-box stores—even after he’d already planted the devices in D.C.
