‘Just embarrassing’: Jake Tapper roasted en masse over ‘pathetic’ Trump interview

A chorus of criticism erupted Sunday evening over a televised phone interview between CNN’s Jake Tapper and President Donald Trump, an interview that some described as “pathetic.”

Calling into CNN’s “State of the Union,” Trump appeared to dictate much of the interview after refusing to answer certain questions, and with little pushback from Tapper.

Tapper also let stand what appeared to be the president's reference to billionaire David Ellison's impending takeover of the network, which analysts suspect may push CNN's coverage in a direction more favorable to the Trump administration.

“We would love to have you back sometime ‘cause I do have a lot of other questions for you, sir,” Tapper said as the interview concluded.

“Sure. We’ll do that, we’ll do that. We’re trying to have CNN go on a normal path, and we’ll do that,” Trump responded.

Tapper then insisted he was “on a normal path right here, sir,” before thanking the president for “calling in” and telling him “I appreciate your time.”

Critics did not mince words with their condemnation of Tapper’s performance.

“This is just embarrassing," wrote journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan in a social media post on X.

“God Jake Tapper is so pathetic,” wrote Keith Orejel, an assistant professor at Wilmington College in Ohio, in a social media post on X.

Journalist Wajahat Ali accused Tapper of “Auditioning for Bari [Weiss],” a reference to Ellison’s appointment of Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief, a position she’s used to transform the network’s coverage to be more favorable to the Trump administration.

And writer and political commentator Jim Stewartson reflected on Trump’s comments to Tapper, which he characterized as a blatant admission of his intent to shape the media landscape to his own benefit.

“In a normal world, this would be an astonishing, devastating admission that the president is using the power of the federal government to help private investors change a news network’s content to make it more favorable to himself,” Stewartson wrote in a social media post on X to his more than 150,000 followers. "But this will just float on by.”