Tapper comes under criticism for George Conway retweet that Trump is ‘100% insane’

CNN’s Jake Tapper came under criticism Tuesday for retweeting a post from conservative George Conway, a prominent critic of President Trump, that called the president “100% insane.”

The CNN anchor on Monday retweeted Conway’s post, which said Trump “is 100% insane and nobody in the administration has the balls to tell him that.”

On Tuesday, Tapper retweeted it again while adding, “Noteworthy comment on folks in the administration from a Trump critic who knows a lot of them:”

Noteworthy comment on folks in the administration from a Trump critic who knows a lot of them: https://t.co/ZvmMxmENuW

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 7, 2020

The retweets and comment drew criticism online, with some saying Tapper was supporting Conway’s characterization of the president.

Tapper defended himself, saying it “seems newsworthy given how many people in the administration he knows.”

Conway is married to White House counsel Kellyanne Conway.

“I RTed Conway, a conservative attorney and Trump critic, because he wrote that no one in the administration has the courage to stand up to the president which seems newsworthy given how many people in the administration he knows,” Tapper tweeted. “RTs do not nec. = agreement.”

I RTed Conway, a conservative attorney and Trump critic, because he wrote that no one in the administration has the courage to stand up to the president which seems newsworthy given how many people in the administration he knows.

RTs do not nec. = agreement. https://t.co/A4i1478urj

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 7, 2020

Among those who criticized Tapper was Johnathan Turley, the lone Republican witness during a House impeachment hearing last year.

Turley, a George Washington University law professor and an opinion contributor to The Hill, criticized the CNN anchor, saying his retweet “only further undermines the media by reaffirming for many that the media is campaigning against Trump rather than covering him.”

Some came to Tapper’s defense, including New York magazine writer Jonathan Chait, who said Tapper “merely observed” Conway’s comments were “noteworthy.”

Tapper merely observed Conway calling Trump “100% insane” is “noteworthy. So the Trumpist position is that it’s not even *noteworthy* that the spouse of a high-level WH official calls the president insane. https://t.co/WIcs3NfySg

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) April 7, 2020

The Hill has reached out to CNN for comment.