A long-standing conflict between Hunter Biden and CNN anchor Jake Tapper has come to light amid the promotional activities for Tapper’s contentious book about former President Joe Biden’s cognitive challenges.
The disagreement focuses on claims that Tapper persistently contacted Hunter Biden while his brother Beau was dying at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, leading to a confrontation at Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The issue surfaced following Dylan Byers’ report in Puck on the tensions between Tapper and the Biden family during the book release of “Original Sin,” co-authored with Axios correspondent Alex Thompson. The book alleges a cover-up concerning the former president’s mental acuity in his final office years.
According to sources close to the Biden family, Tapper made multiple phone calls to Hunter Biden in late May 2015 as Beau Biden was critically ill with brain cancer at Walter Reed. Beau was admitted to the medical center on May 20, 2015, following a recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme, and passed away ten days later on May 30, 2015, at age 46.
During this period, Hunter Biden did not respond to Tapper’s initial calls to his cellphone. When Tapper allegedly called from a blocked number, Hunter answered unknowingly. Sources recall Hunter’s response when Tapper reportedly asked him to call when Beau died: “Go f*** yourself, Jake.”
The situation reached a peak almost three years later at Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When Tapper approached Hunter Biden for a handshake, Biden allegedly warned he would knock Tapper out if they weren’t in public. Witnesses described the incident as intense, making others in the VIP suite uncomfortable.
Hunter Biden confirmed these events in an interview with Breaker Media, stating the memory was unforgettable and distressing during such a difficult life moment. He stressed the incident occurred exactly as described and that he remained angry when encountering Tapper at the Super Bowl.
Tapper has denied Hunter Biden’s account. In statements to both Puck and Breaker Media, Tapper asserted he never contacted Hunter Biden and claimed he never had his phone number. The CNN anchor labeled the allegations as a “patently false lie” and stated he would not contact someone’s family during a personal crisis.
However, Tapper admitted that Hunter Biden confronted him at the Super Bowl party, though he stated the confrontation was about unrelated coverage concerning divorce allegations and drug use that Hunter mistakenly believed Tapper had reported. Tapper maintained he did not report those allegations about Hunter Biden.
Research into Tapper’s previous coverage shows he did discuss Hunter Biden’s alleged drug use in a CNN segment in October 2014, contradicting his recent denials. This inconsistency has added another dimension to the dispute between the two.
Sources close to the Biden family described Hunter’s reaction to Tapper’s alleged calls as one of genuine anger. One source familiar with the situation explained that Tapper’s approach appeared opportunistic, as if Hunter’s main concern while his brother was dying would be providing Tapper with an exclusive story. This source emphasized Hunter’s perception of Tapper’s pursuit of a scoop during a personal tragedy.
The conflict appears linked to broader tensions between Tapper and the Biden family concerning media access. Sources indicate Tapper was frustrated with limited access to Joe Biden during his presidency. This frustration reportedly peaked before Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address when CNN chose Erin Burnett instead of Tapper for an off-the-record White House briefing with network anchors.
According to two people aware of the situation, Tapper had a “meltdown” over being excluded from the briefing. He reportedly made multiple angry phone calls to White House contacts, with one recipient recalling Tapper declaring, “I’m Jake Tapper and this is my network.”
Despite Tapper’s denials regarding the Walter Reed incident, the fact remains that he only interviewed Joe Biden once during his presidency, which sources say was another source of frustration for the CNN anchor. Tapper’s spokesperson attempted to discredit the allegations by noting that the Biden family later offered Tapper interviews and agreed to have him co-moderate a 2024 presidential debate.
The feud has intensified during Tapper’s “Original Sin” promotional tour. In a recent interview with Katie Couric on her “Next Question” podcast, Tapper criticized Hunter Biden, calling him “provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy and prone to horrible decisions.” Tapper specifically mentioned Hunter’s relationship with his brother’s widow after Beau’s death, claiming Hunter “cheated on his wife with his brother’s widow and then got her addicted to crack.”
Tapper and co-author Thompson described Hunter Biden as acting like the “chief of staff of the family” during Joe Biden’s presidency, exerting undue influence over White House decisions despite his personal struggles. They suggested that protecting Hunter from legal consequences was a factor in Biden’s decision to seek re-election in 2024.
The Biden family has countered the book’s claims through various channels. Naomi Biden, Joe Biden’s granddaughter, publicly criticized Tapper and Thompson as “irresponsible self-promoting journalists” relying on “unnamed, anonymous sources pushing a self-serving false narrative.” Former President Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden have conducted their own media appearances to challenge the book’s narrative.
The timing of the feud’s public emergence coincides with increased scrutiny of Tapper’s past coverage of Biden’s cognitive abilities. Critics have questioned whether Tapper adequately reported on concerns about Biden’s mental state during his presidency, given the explosive allegations now contained in his book about an alleged cover-up.
