CNN anchor Jake Tapper has hit back at President Donald Trump after the president accused the network of reporting a “false statement” regarding Iran’s response to the ceasefire. The row began on Tuesday when CNN anchor Erin Burnett read out a statement from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which declared the Islamic Republic had achieved a “historic and crushing defeat” for the US in what it called an “unfair, unlawful, and criminal war”.
Trump demanded that CNN withdraw the statement with “full apologies” and claimed an investigation was being launched into whether the network had committed a crime by publishing the document. In a series of posts on Truth Social, he described the Iranian statement as a “FRAUD” and said CNN had “got caught cheating”.
On Wednesday, Tapper responded on his programme The Lead, arguing that the statement did not fit the messaging the Trump administration wanted to project. “Instead of calling out the Iranian regime for its conflicting statements or explaining how Iran does this all the time, President Trump attacked CNN by falsely claiming we made it up by lying to you,” Tapper said.
Tapper emphasised that CNN did not invent the statement nor present Iran’s claims as fact, and that the network’s job was to report on ongoing events. “Our job is not to try and please the president or only report the statements he likes,” he added. “We’re going to tell you what’s going on, and we’re going to keep doing that, no matter how many lies this administration or the Iranians tell.”
CNN’s Matthew Chance clarified on Tuesday that both statements came from Iranian officials: one from Iran’s foreign ministry confirming the ceasefire and plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and the other from the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s highest military body, which was more aggressive in tone. Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, accused CNN of “pushing out a hoax headline”, but the network defended itself, noting the statement was obtained from Iranian officials.
