In surprise move, Jake Tapper calls out CNN colleague Brian Stelter for questionable ‘journalistic standard’

Jake Tapper called out his CNN colleague Brian Stelter, who recommended the Michael Wolff book “Fire and Fury” because Trump haters say the book “rings true overall” despite its numerous factual errors.

Tapper chided Stelter on Twitter for his loose journalistic standards, writing: “Having many errors but ‘ringing true’ is not a journalistic standard.”

jake tapper brian stelter michael wolff humpty dumpty
CNN’s Jake Tapper called out colleague Brian Stelter for praising Michael Wolff’s book ‘Fire and Fury’ because it ‘rings true’ despite multiple factual errors. (screenshots)

After fellow liberals slammed Tapper for criticizing his leftist colleague, Tapper backpedaled.

“That said, quotes are quotes,” he tweeted. “And if facts can be ascertained by further reporting as true, that’s also a service.”

Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” has garnered outsized press attention because it feeds the mainstream media narrative of President Trump as a bumbling fool who’s suffering from dementia, is unstable, and is sneered at by his own staffers.

Meanwhile, the White House and numerous Trump associates have dismissed the book as snarky gossip and pointed to numerous instances where the author gets basic facts wrong. If he can’t be trusted on basic facts, how can the rest of his book be trusted?

michael wolff dr. evil
Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld said Michael Wolff resembles the bumbling movie villain Dr. Evil. (screenshots)

Liberal pundits like Brian Stelter have been eager to excuse the book’s blatant errors because it mocks President Trump.

“This book paints a consistent portrait, that many other reporters have been painting for months, about the president’s incompetence and instability,” Stelter said on CNN this weekend.

In one anecdote designed to spotlight Trump’s purported ignorance, Wolff claimed Trump did not know who former Speaker of the House John Boehner was in 2016.

The book alleges Trump asked, “Who’s that?” when former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes suggested Trump hire Boehner as his chief of staff.

White House social media director Dan Scavino quickly debunked that claim by showing a 2013 photo of Trump playing golf with Boehner.

In another instance, Fox News host Laura Ingraham disputed Wolff’s claims that she “struggled to parse support for Trump” and tried to distance herself from him.

In reality, Ingraham was — and remains — an outspoken Trump supporter. She even interviewed for a job with his administration before launching her own Fox News show.

Not surprisingly, President Trump trashed Michael Wolff, calling him a “total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book.”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949498795074736129

Wolff’s mainstream media colleagues also called him out for his “sloppy” writing.

The New York Times scoffed: “He gets basic details wrong.”  The New York Post blasted “Fire and Fury” as “blithe ignorance.”

Business Insider underscored that even “the author says he can’t be sure it parts of [his book] are true.”

Then, there are the words Michael Wolff used to describe himself: “I’m a famous bloviator.”  Gee…sounds like a ringing self-endorsement.

CNN and MSNBC mocked for hyping convicted felon Michael Avenatti as ‘Savior’

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