- The Washington Times - Tuesday, November 21, 2017

CNN’s Jake Tapper told fans on Tuesday that he tried to warn the world of sexual predators in the media during former President Bill Clinton’s White House tenure.

The host of “The Lead” claims he was out in front decades ago on a ticking time bomb of scandals that has now detonated on Washington’s media and political class. Mr. Tapper told his 1.5 million Twitter followers that a 1998 piece he wrote for Washington City Paper’s gave readers a glimpse into an industry primed for scandal.

Mr. Tapper said the same men who reported on Mr. Clinton’s lascivious behavior, such as his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, were hypocrites who managed to avoid getting caught.

“In 1998, just as the Bill Clinton/Lewinsky scandal broke, i wrote in @wcp: ’Does it need saying that too many of the producers, reporters, and editors who are currently busy putting him and Monica in stocks have done the same thing in just as tawdry ways,” the journalist began a series of tweets.

“Feed a drink to any woman reporter — especially in TV — and she will spill all about her first job, about the fossilized proboscis monkey who pushed her up against the teleprompter, or the tan, dashing reporter who had breath like a warthog and hands like a squid,” he continued, Twitchy reported. “I should note that I knew nothing beyond rumor. But as we learn seemingly every day, none of these stories of sexual misconduct in media were completely unknown to media bosses.”

The CNN star’s comments came in the wake of a sex scandal that claimed the career of Charlie Rose. CBS and PBS suspended the television host’s shows on Monday after eight women gave detailed reports of alleged sexual misconduct to The Washington Post.

“I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior,” the 75-year-old said in a statement. “I am greatly embarrassed. I have behaved insensitively at times and I accept responsibility for that, though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate.”

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide