Hunter Biden described CNN anchor Jake Tapper as a "complete and utter, uh, a**hole" and a "really poor journalist" during a recent appearance on Don Lemon's YouTube show. Biden also stated he does not believe Tapper to be a "very decent human being" and that he has a "real personal grievance" with the anchor.
"I think he’s full of fcking sht. That’s what I think," Biden said, later comparing Tapper to the character Brick Tamland from the film "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."
Biden's remarks stem from a series of exchanges between him and Tapper that began approximately a year prior, coinciding with the CNN anchor's promotion of his book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again." During his book tour, Tapper suggested that Hunter Biden acted "almost like a chief of staff" to his father, President Joe Biden, and described the younger Biden as "sleazy" and prone to "horrible decisions."
Biden vehemently denied Tapper's characterization of his role in the administration, stating he was only in the White House for 12 days over the last two years of his father's term. In response to Tapper's comments, Biden told former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison that he believed Tapper was being dishonest.
In a July 2025 interview with Breaker, Biden also accused Tapper of persistently contacting him while his elder brother, Beau Biden, was dying at Walter Reed Hospital. Biden reportedly told Tapper, "Go **k yourself, Jake," after picking up one of these calls. A spokesperson for Tapper dismissed this account as "a patently false lie," stating it defied logic for Tapper to behave in such a heartless manner.
To support his contention that he was not on bad terms with the administration, Tapper's representatives pointed to an interview he conducted with Hunter Biden in 2022 and an earlier interview with President Joe Biden in 2020, during which Tapper asked about transparency regarding the president's health records.
Tapper and fellow CNN anchor Dana Bash later moderated a presidential debate in 2024 involving former President Donald Trump. Following criticism regarding media coverage of President Biden's cognitive abilities, Tapper defended journalists, stating that he and others "were just lied to over and over again" and did not participate in a deliberate cover-up.
A CNN spokesperson commented on Biden's remarks, calling them "ridiculous" and stating that Tapper "is a respected journalist and his work speaks for itself." The spokesperson added that Tapper has "challenged and scrutinized those in power, regardless of party, ideology, or title" for decades. The network stated that such comments "shouldn’t warrant news coverage."