CNN anchor Jake Tapper published a lengthy diatribe on his network’s website accusing Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of telling a “wild and false story about me” during a recent podcast appearance.
Tapper responded to claims made by Kennedy during a June 5 podcast appearance with Jordan Peterson.
According to Tapper, Kennedy falsely claimed that Tapper told him in 2005 that an ABC News segment was spiked by management.
Tapper, who was a correspondent for ABC News at the time, interviewed Kennedy over an online article he wrote for Salon.com and Rolling Stone magazine that Tapper said included wild claims about vaccines and their alleged link to autism.
The Kennedy story, which alleged that a preservative found in most childhood vaccines caused neurological disorders, was eventually removed by both Rolling Stone and Salon.com.
Kennedy told Peterson earlier this month that he and Tapper worked together “for three weeks doing this incredible documentary” about the magazine article.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper wrote an op-ed slamming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over comments made on a recent podcast. Cindy Barrymore/Shutterstock
Kennedy told podcaster Jordan Peterson on June 5 that ABC News “killed” a 2005 story about his claims linking vaccines to autism. Tapper, who worked for ABC News at the time, denied the claim. Tamara Beckwith“No and no,” Tapper wrote in the CNN article on Thursday.
Tapper insisted that he told Kennedy in 2005 that ABC News was “holding the story for a day.”
Kennedy then told Peterson that “the night before the piece was supposed to run, [Tapper] called me up and said, ‘The piece just got killed by corporate.’”
“I didn’t say that in any way and the piece wasn’t killed,” Tapper insisted.
Tapper then accused Kennedy of misquoting him.
“All my career, I have never had a piece killed by corporate and I’m so mad,” Kennedy quoted Tapper as saying.
Tapper denied the claim.
“I hadn’t,” Tapper wrote. “I had been at ABC News for two years. I had had plenty of pieces killed.”
“Not once did ‘corporate’ play a role in killing any of them,” the CNN anchor wrote.
Tapper wrote: “Now in his retelling, a two-minute piece was an ‘incredible documentary,’ a few days of work was three weeks, one remote interview was me working intensely with him, and a piece that got delayed one day so we could interview some actual experts is a piece that got killed.”
Kennedy is running to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. REUTERSAccording to Tapper, ABC News aired the story on June 22, 2005.
“Kennedy alleges a government cover-up, arguing the Centers for Disease Control, in collusion with the pharmaceutical industry, suppressed data about the dangers of Thimerosal,” Tapper reported at the time.
Thimerosal is a preservative that was removed from vaccines years prior to the 2005 story.
Tapper cited several medical studies that showed no link between the preservative and incidences of autism among children.
Tapper wrote in his op-ed that Kennedy was “untethered to facts.” WireImage“So, yeah, we did the fact-checking for our piece that RFK Jr. didn’t do himself,” Tapper wrote.
“And he remains someone you cannot rely upon for facts, truth or accuracy.”
The Post has sought comment from Kennedy.
