Jake Tapper Calls Out RFK Jr. Ad for Editing Anchor’s Comments Out of Context: ‘Should Be Taken Down at Once’

The CNN anchor slammed the ad as “misleading and deceptive,” with quotes “falsely clipped together”

Jake Tapper and RFK Jr.
Getty Images

CNN’s Jake Tapper slammed a new ad from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign that included comments from CNN anchors taken out of context to bolster the presidential candidate’s campaign.

The campaign ad features anchors from across CNN and a few other networks, splicing them together to make it seem as though comments are specifically referencing RFK Jr.’s candidacy for president. 

“This is so misleading and deceptive it should be taken down at once,” Tapper wrote on social media. “The quotes are falsely clipped together.”

In the ad, Tapper can be heard saying “Panic has set in across the country as Democrats are shocked by a startling revelation following Thursday night’s debate. Joe Biden is not fit for candidacy.”

Other CNN anchors like Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer are shown presenting reporting that Democratic operatives and donors are concerned about Biden’s candidacy. Other network hosts were also included, but the bulk of the segments came from CNN.

“Sources are saying Democrats are starting to rally around who they believe might be their only legitimate chance at beating Donald Trump,” Anderson Cooper says. 

However, the campaign spliced the footage together in order to make it seem like the anchors were referring to RFK Jr. as the “candidate who can unite the country,” despite the fact that he was not the subject of those reports.

“He knows how to work across the aisle,” Dana Bash is pictured saying. “He knows how to weed out corruption.”

“He says he knows how to deal with Ukraine on day one of his presidency,” Tapper adds. 

Blitzer is shown saying “He says he will close the border as soon as he takes office.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” Bash said. 

The anchor comments were taken completely out of context, with some likely not even pulled from a segment referencing RFK Jr.’s candidacy. 

The RFK Jr. campaign did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.

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