CNN anchor Jake Tapper took aim at pro-Trump Republicans in a somber but blistering monologue on Sunday, suggesting the American experiment could be coming to an end.
"The success of what is called the ‘American experiment’ has been of interest to our friends here in Europe and around the world ever since the term was coined in the New York Tribune in 1860, just before another attempt to destroy the Republic because one group of Americans did not like the results of an election," Tapper began Sunday's "State of the Union" while reporting from Germany during President Biden's trip to the G7 Summit. "The New York Daily Tribune noted then that, quote, ‘The social, and especially the political institutions of the United States have for the whole of the current century been the subject in Europe, not merely of curious speculation, but of the deepest interest,’ unquote."
He continued, "The question asked then, and now… ‘Is it possible for a government to be permanently maintained without privileged classes… and without either hereditary or self-appointed rulers is the democratic principle of equal rights, general suffrage and government by a majority, capable of being carried into practical operation and that, too, over a large extent of country, unquote.'"
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 15: Jake Tapper of CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper and CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper speaks onstage during the WarnerMedia Upfront 2019 show at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 15, 2019 in New York City. 602140 (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WarnerMedia) ( (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WarnerMedia))
Tapper told viewers that the U.S. had been "moving in the right direction" to meet the ideals of the American experiment "until the election of 2020," quickly pivoting to the ongoing Jan. 6 House Select Committee hearings on Capitol Hill.
"The Tribune wondered in 1860 and many of you may be wondering today about whether quote ‘our institutions rest on a solid and permanent basis,’ unquote. Do they? We've been learning a lot over the past few weeks about just how much Donald Trump and his minions attempted to disrupt the solidness of those institutions," Tapper said. Can a state's electors be thrown out by the House of Representatives based on lies? Two-thirds of House Republicans, including Republican leaders [Kevin] McCarthy, [Steve] Scalise and [Elise] Stefanik, as well as senators such as [Ted] Cruz and [Josh] Hawley, they voted that way, knowing it was all a lie, knowing they were rending the garment of our Republic but apparently not caring."
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of La., left, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., speak with reporters after watching a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy live-streamed into the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. ((AP Photo/Alex Brandon))
The CNN anchor then asked if a president "can" pressure a state's Secretary of State to "find enough votes" to flip the results of an election and pressure the DOJ to push fraudulent electors onto states "thus allowing a desperate electoral loser to hold on to power despite the loss."
"The American institutions have held, barely," Tapper remarked, "but you can be forgiven for wondering, as our European allies are, whether our American experiment will ultimately prove successful."
"Remember, it is the American experiment, it is not the American proven theorem. Whether it succeeds, well, that's up to us," he added.
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Tapper has long been critical of Republicans who question the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, even barring GOP lawmakers who challenged the certification of President Biden's victory from his CNN programs, accusing them of peddling "lies." Critics have called out the anchor for allowing guests like Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Michael Avenatti and Stacey Abrams, who never officially conceded her 2018 Georgia gubernatorial loss to Brian Kemp.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed back on him during an interview Sunday when the anchor made similar remarks, telling Tapper that the notion of American democracy being under threat was "grossly exaggerated."