CNN host and Original Sin co-author Jake Tapper took his book tour to HBO and Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday for a surreal discussion with Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton about former President Joe Biden’s mental decline and who was to blame for the coverup.
Moulton had just recalled how Biden did not seem to remember who he was while the two were in Normandy. While Moulton was on to tout his role in getting Biden to step aside, he only recalled the incident publicly in July, after Biden’s ultimately career-ending debate in late June, when he became a political liability for Democrats. Still, Maher asked Tapper, “So, you said ‘blame’ before, who do we blame? I feel like people are Yoko-ing the wife. I feel Jill Biden’s getting the Yoko treatment. Maybe she deserves it, but Yoko didn't break up The Beatles.”
Not only did Tapper absolve his co-panelist of any blame, he cleared himself and his fellow journalists, “I think there are any number of people who are part of this decision to hide how bad it was, not only from the media, not only from the public, but also from cabinet officials, from people in the White House, from Democratic lawmakers, I mean, there was a period 2023, 2024 Democratic lawmakers barely saw the president. Yes, I think it was Jill Biden, I also think it's Hunter Biden. I also think President Biden has agency here too, we aren't saying it was Weekend at Bernie’s… Like, he had moments where he was non-functioning, but he understood what was going on. I mean, we saw him earlier today. He can speak and talk, if he were here right now, he’d talk for 10, 15 minutes and be fine.”
When Tapper visits conservative outlets on his book tour, he appears to pay lip service to the fact that the media dropped the ball on the topic, but when he’s on more liberal shows, such as Real Time, he appears to portray the media as passive observers who got hoodwinked by the White House into thinking that Biden’s decline was just part of his longer history of gaffes and bloopers. Therefore, it is reasonable to be skeptical that the media will truly change its ways as a result of Tapper’s book.
Here is a transcript for the May 30 show:
HBO Real Time with Bill Maher
5/30/2025
10:24 PM ET
BILL MAHER: So, you said "blame" before, who do we blame? I feel like people are Yoko-ing the wife. I feel Jill Biden’s getting the Yoko treatment. Maybe she deserves it, but Yoko didn't break up The Beatles.
JAKE TAPPER: I think there are any number of people who are part of this decision to hide how bad it was, not only from the media, not only from the public, but also from cabinet officials, from people in the White House, from Democratic lawmakers, I mean, there was a period 2023, 2024 Democratic lawmakers barely saw the president.
Yes, I think it was Jill Biden, I also think it's Hunter Biden. I also think President Biden has agency here too, we aren't saying it was Weekend at Bernie’s.
MAHER: Of course.
TAPPER: He was aware—was going on—no, I’m saying it wasn’t . Like, he had moments where he was non-functioning, but he understood what was going on. I mean, we saw him earlier today. He can speak and talk, if he were here right now, he’d talk for 10, 15 minutes and be fine.