'Humor me': CNN’s Jake Tapper drags Mike Johnson and Mitch McConnell in damning supercut

25 October 2024

On Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) issued a joint statement weighing on Vice President Kamala Harris' characterization of former President Donald Trump as a "fascist." CNN host Jake Tapper was having none of it on his Friday broadcast.

As the Hill reported, both Johnson and McConnell suggested that Harris calling her opponent a fascist could potentially invite more political violence ahead of the November election. The two Congressional Republican leaders said it's important to not "allow this violence to be normalized," referencing the July incident in which a would-be assassin barely missed Trump at a Pennsylvania rally and a September incident in which a man with a rifle was spotted at Trump's Florida golf course.

"In the weeks since that second sobering reminder, the Democratic nominee for President of the United States has only fanned the flames beneath a boiling cauldron of political animus," Johnson and McConnell wrote "Her most recent and most reckless invocations of the darkest evil of the 20th century seem to dare it to boil over."

"The vice president's words more closely resemble those of President Trump's second would-be assassin than her own earlier appeal to civility," they continued. "Labeling a political opponent a 'fascist' risks inviting yet another would-be assassin to try robbing voters of their choice before Election Day."

When Tapper began his Friday evening show, he appeared to agree with Johnson and McConnell, pointing out that Harris had indeed called the former president a "fascist" during her Wednesday night town hall on CNN. He then asked his control room to play the clip of Harris, though the clip that actually played was of Trump calling Harris a "Marxist, communist, fascist, socialist" at a September rally.

"I'm sorry, control room, that was actually Donald Trump calling Kamala Harris a fascist in September," Tapper said. "Control room, are you ready? Please run the clip of Kamala Harris calling Donald Trump a fascist, which offended the Republican leaders."

Instead, CNN played another clip of Trump calling the vice president a "radical left, Marxist communist fascist" at a separate event in September.

"OK, again, I'm sorry, that was Trump calling Harris a fascist. I apologize," Tapper said, continuing his deadpan routine. "Control room, can we get it together? Johnson and McConnell are very upset that Kamala Harris called Donald Trump a fascist. Please roll the clip."

Then, a clip played of Trump at an August campaign event, saying: "We have a fascist person running, who's incompetent. And we have a president who's not even around." The camera then cut back to Tapper.

"Guys, I'm trying to show the clip of Donald Trump being called a fascist! That's what Speaker Johnson and Leader McConnell are worried about. You keep running different clips of Trump calling her a fascist," Tapper said. "Please, humor me! Humor me."

The clip that instead played was audio of former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly, who told the New York Times earlier this week that his old boss met the dictionary's definition of "fascist." Kelly also recalled to the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg that Trump heaped praise on Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, and longed for the same kind of "totally loyal" generals that he had.

Watch Tapper's full segment below, or by clicking this link.

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