Jake Tapper Slaps Trump With A Reminder Of What Journalists Do After He Rants At CNN

The CNN star had enough of the president vilifying the network and reporter Natasha Bertrand for her report on the bombing of Iran.

CNN host Jake Tapper schooled Donald Trump Wednesday on the mission of journalists after the president targeted the news network and other outlets for their reporting on the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. (Watch the video below.)

Trump called the media “scum” and “fake” for correctly reporting that a preliminary Pentagon assessment said the strikes perhaps set back Iran’s nuke development by a few months ― but did not obliterate its program as Trump claimed. The president also zeroed in on CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, who was the first to surface the finding, demanding that CNN throw her out “like a dog.”

In an impassioned address, Tapper outlined Trump’s mode of attacking the messenger and branding outlets that reported the analysis as unpatriotic and disrespectful to the military.

The anchor reminded Trump of the Fourth Estate’s goal.

“Our obligation as journalists is not to praise President Trump, or protect his feelings, or to disparage him, or to praise him for that matter,” Tapper said. “Our obligation is to report facts. In this case, the fact is that an initial DIA intel assessment out of [Defense] Secretary Pete Hegseth’s own Pentagon exists. And that’s not going to change, no matter how many insults Trump levels.”