CNN's Jake Tapper suffers major blow as ratings plummet after Joe Biden bombshell

Jake Tapper has been a mainstay at CNN for years and his new book about Joe Biden has made headlines around the world - but it hasn't translated into ratings

12:32 ET, Fri, May 30, 2025 | UPDATED: 12:39 ET, Fri, May 30, 2025

CNN's Jake Tapper presses Biden official

Despite a significant media push for his new book revealing President Joe Biden's decline, CNN anchor Jake Tapper has experienced his worst ratings in nearly a decade.

Tapper co-wrote the political exposé Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again with Axios journalist Alex Thompson.

The book, which was released in May, reignited discussions about Biden's suitability for office and alleged attempts to hide his health issues.

Despite extensive promotion across the network, the publicity hasn't converted into viewership. To back the launch, Tapper appeared on podcasts, talk shows, and cable news, while CNN heavily promoted the book internally.

However, Tapper's show, "The Lead with Jake Tapper," didn't see any benefits. From April 28 to May 25, the program averaged a mere 525,000 total viewers, a 25% drop from the same period last year.

CNN Jake Tapper

Tapper co-authored the political bombshell book despite previous denials of Biden's decline (Image: CNN)

In the meantime, competitors outperformed CNN in the ratings. Fox News' The Five and Special Report with Bret Baier attracted a whopping 3.3 million viewers during the same period, leaving Tapper trailing behind.

MSNBC also surpassed Tapper, averaging over one million viewers. During that time, Tapper only managed to secure 11% of the cable news audience share.

MSNBC claimed 21%, while Fox News led the pack with 68%. These figures represent Tapper's lowest month since August 2015.

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cnn jake tapper

The program averaged just 525,000 total viewers - down 25% from the same period last year (Image: CNN)

His show’s ratings are tumbling, particularly among the coveted 25-54 demographic, where just 95,000 viewers tuned in from April 28 to May 25—a 15% decline from the previous year.

CNN itself faced a tough time with May being its second-worst month for the 25-54 age group's viewership during both total day and prime time.

Tapper has made waves with his book, conceding that he could have been more critical of Biden's age in reporting, and even suggesting the downplay of Biden's mental acuity could be "a worse scandal than Watergate."

Reacting to the slump in numbers, a CNN spokesperson asserted: "The award-winning program The Lead with Jake Tapper reaches broad global audiences across CNN, CNN International, and Max's streaming platform."

They also stressed that "No single metric can capture the true reach and impact of a program driving the national conversation", while highlighting that Nielsen ratings don't account for international viewers.

Adding fuel to the fire, former President Donald Trump blasted Biden's use of an autopen for signing documents as "the biggest scandal in American history" since 2020, alleging individuals used the mechanism to authorize policies without Biden's explicit approval.

Trump took to Truth Social to claim that the individual using the mechanical signature device is "usurping the power of the Presidency."

He went on to say that certain actions, like advocating for open borders or permitting men to participate in women's sports, are policies that Biden would not choose "of sound mind."