CNN anchor Jake Tapper is turning up the heat on the Biden family, and this time he isn’t holding back.
During a candid sit-down with Katie Couric on her Next Question podcast, Tapper delivered a scathing assessment of Hunter Biden, painting the president’s embattled son as a toxic figure with outsized sway in the White House. Joined by Axios political correspondent Alex Thompson, Tapper appeared to promote their joint book, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. But the real bombshells dropped when the conversation turned personal.
“It’s bizarre,” Tapper said of Hunter’s White House role. “Because I think he is provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy and prone to horrible decisions.”
“Almost Like a Chief of Staff”
Tapper didn’t mince words. According to the veteran CNN journalist, Hunter’s influence in the West Wing resembled that of a top aide. “It was almost like he was a chief of staff,” he said—an alarming assertion given Hunter’s long, public history of scandals, substance abuse, and business dealings under federal scrutiny.
Couric, stunned by the bluntness, interjected: “Tell me how you really feel.”
Tapper obliged.
“Just look at the record,” he continued. “After his brother died, he cheated on his wife with his brother’s widow and then got her addicted to crack. That’s just one thing I could say. I don’t have a lot of personal regard for him…I barely have ever met him. I’ve met him like once or twice.”
The Shadow of Beau Biden
Tapper made a sharp contrast between Hunter and his late brother, Beau Biden—the former Delaware attorney general and, in many ways, the moral compass of the Biden dynasty.
“But Hunter is not [everything Beau was], and the idea of letting him drive the family car, as it were, is just really, really questionable,” Tapper said.
Thompson echoed the sentiment, suggesting that Hunter’s legal troubles and desire for protection may have played into President Biden’s decision to run for re-election.
From Silence to Scrutiny
Interestingly, Tapper hasn’t always been this vocal. Back in 2020, during Biden’s first campaign, he had refrained from amplifying allegations surrounding Hunter’s business dealings, saying they were “too disgusting” to air on CNN.
But that changed by 2023. The gloves came off.
“Hunter Biden is who he is,” Tapper said that year.
“In addition to being an addict, he’s a guy who ethically has, there have been questions raised about his behavior, and I think it’s worth covering..”
He also blasted President Biden directly for publicly pledging not to pardon Hunter only to reverse course during the final weeks of his presidency.
“Everyone who repeated Biden’s lie about not pardoning his son is either credulous or complicit,” Tapper now insists.
Behind-the-Scenes Drama and a Super Bowl Showdown
The bitterness between Tapper and Hunter Biden goes far deeper than policy disagreements. According to Breaker, Hunter remains furious over Tapper’s behavior during Beau’s final days. He accused the journalist of repeatedly reaching out while Beau was dying, allegedly in pursuit of a scoop.
The tension boiled over in 2018 at the Super Bowl, where the two men reportedly had a heated confrontation.
Tapper’s camp denies any wrongdoing. A spokesperson noted that Tapper continued to enjoy professional respect within the Biden orbit, including co-moderating the 2024 presidential debate and scoring interviews with the president himself.
