Jake Tapper, the longtime CNN anchor and now co-author of Original Sin, is everywhere—on podcasts, talk shows, and media panels—touting his exposé on President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and the White House’s alleged cover-up. But while Tapper’s book may be driving headlines, it’s not driving viewers.
In fact, his CNN program, The Lead with Jake Tapper, just recorded its lowest-rated month since August 2015, averaging only 525,000 total viewers between April 28 and May 25—a 25% drop compared to the same period last year. It’s a stunning collapse that raises a critical question: Is Tapper’s attempt at accountability actually backfiring?
Tapper’s book, co-written with Axios journalist Alex Thompson, purports to blow the lid off the Biden White House’s deception about the president’s fitness to lead. The book has already reset much of the national conversation around Biden’s mental state, especially with election season heating up. But the public’s reaction to Tapper himself has been less forgiving.
Jake Tapper explains how the Biden White House was able to “sell” the Cheap Fakes false narrative to a “gullible press” including NYT and WAPO.
What Jake fails to mention is that this “gullible press” included his own network.
Of course, the “gullible press” cover is a lie in… pic.twitter.com/4kNG1lXPGR
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 29, 2025
As Tapper tries to position himself as a truth-teller now, many critics argue that he was part of the original cover-up. In Original Sin, Tapper paints a portrait of a press corps systematically misled by the administration. But for a sizable portion of the audience, this rings hollow—especially coming from a journalist who, for years, defended the very institutions now being scrutinized.
Despite the massive promotional push, including CNN’s own relentless coverage, Tapper’s show hasn’t seen a boost. Quite the opposite. Viewers are tuning out in droves, and Tapper is now commanding just 11% of the cable news audience in his time slot.
By contrast, Fox News dominates with 68% of the audience, and even MSNBC pulls in nearly double Tapper’s viewership. That’s not just bad—it’s a signal that audiences are rejecting Tapper’s rebranding effort.
The core problem for Tapper may be credibility. For years, he held a central role in a media ecosystem that downplayed—or outright dismissed—questions about Biden’s age and capability. Now, in 2025, he’s telling readers the press “missed the story.” But the public hasn’t forgotten the contempt with which those questions were once treated.
Instead of regaining trust, Tapper may have reminded viewers just how deep the complicity ran, and how reluctant many in the press were to do real investigative work when it came to Biden’s health.
“Tapper wrote this book to absolve himself and media from the Biden charade,” one critic noted. “But in the end, it might actually be his undoing.”
With ratings cratering and Tapper’s image increasingly linked to a failed narrative correction, CNN may eventually be forced to reconsider his primetime role. In a network already undergoing ideological whiplash and corporate reshuffling, The Lead could soon be on the chopping block.
