Rep. Nancy Pelosi chided CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Tuesday for bringing up Donald Trump’s latest baseless smear of Vice President Kamala Harris regarding her acuity.
On The Lead, Tapper broached the subject by noting feedback he has received regarding the media’s coverage of Trump’s gaffes and at times confusing responses to questions.
“I’m sure that you hear from progressive voters, Democratic voters who say—as I hear from them on social media—[that] the media made such a big deal out of Joe Biden’s alleged cognitive problems, [and so] why don’t they talk about Donald Trump’s cognitive problems?” Tapper said. “Well, Donald Trump talked about that just a second ago, and I want to get your reaction.”
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He then aired a clip of the 78-year-old former president earlier in the day accusing his competitor of having “bigger cognitive problems” than President Joe Biden.
Pelosi wasn’t having it.
“Why would you even cover that?” Pelosi asked pointedly. “This is a person who is not on the level. He is their nominee for president. He is incompetent. Let’s not even talk about the silliness of it all, and the weirdness of it all, and the assault on women that it is.”
Tapper said he played the clip because Trump is the GOP nominee for president, “and I thought you might have a reaction to it.”
Trump, as far back as last November, declared himself not “cognitively impaired” after he kept confusing Biden with former President Barack Obama.
Two months later, in one particularly glaring gaffe, Trump repeatedly referred to Pelosi as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley while trying to absolve himself of any responsibility for the deadly insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
