CNN interviewed Lara Trump on Sunday morning, and anchor Jake Tapper took the wife of Donald Trump’s son Eric to task for comments she made questioning Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities in an awkward interview that didn’t generate many productive answers from anyone. Instead, it was Tapper who chided Trump for mocking Biden’s stutter and appearing to diagnose Biden with cognitive issues, something Tapper quickly pointed out was something many people have done to the candidate Lara Trump was there to support.
Tapper showed footage of Lara Trump at an event for the president mocking Biden’s ability to speak, where she chided the former vice president for not being able to “get the words out.” The CNN anchor asked the Trump surrogate “How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?” The question, of course, came because Biden famously overcame a stutter early in his life, which is still sometimes present when speaking.
Jake Tapper calls out Lara Trump for openly mocking Joe Biden’s stutter.
Lara says, “First and foremost I had no idea that Joe Biden ever suffered from a stutter. I think what we see on Joe Biden on stage is very clearly a cognitive decline.”
Tapper isn’t having it. pic.twitter.com/qGlfOLzd3k
— The Recount (@therecount) October 18, 2020
“First and foremost I had no idea that Joe Biden ever suffered from a stutter,” Trump said before quickly pivoting. “I think what we see on stage with Joe Biden is very clearly a cognitive decline.”
But Tapper wasn’t having it, quickly shutting Trump down and causing the two to talk over each other for several seconds. It was awkward, but Tapper seemed intent to not let Trump deflect from her comments and accuse the Democratic nominee for president of having an unproven medical ailment rather than address her own comments.
“I think you were mocking his stutter,” Tapper said. “And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody’s cognitive decline.”
From there, Tapper got a bit personal.
“I would think that somebody in the Trump family would be more sensitive to people who do not have medical licenses diagnosing politicians from afar,” Tapper said. “Plenty of people have diagnosed your father from afar, and I’m sure it offends you — your father in law from afar. You don’t have any standing to say (that).”
Trump tried to say she didn’t diagnose Biden with anything, she was merely expressing concern. But Tapper dismissed that quickly, and instead of asking a final question simply ended the interview. It was clearly a frustrating exchange for Tapper, who didn’t let Trump get to the talking points she wanted to once she avoided answering his initial question.