CNN's Jake Tapper calls out Dems amid New Jersey voter roll controversy
CNN anchor Jake Tapper called out Democrats while addressing the voter roll controversy that has rocked the blue state of New Jersey.
Broadcast TV reporters have an annoying tendency to flash the phrase "no evidence" at Republican arguments, especially about election integrity. You can search for those two words and try to find them ever using them used against Democrats. They’re always getting a free pass.
So, when Trump and the Republicans say that illegal aliens are on the voter rolls and casting votes, the reporters have said "no evidence." It was a rough day for them when New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced that the state discovered there were 6,600 illegal immigrants found on its voter rolls, and that 400 of them voted in 2024.
The networks at least covered the story – the announcement was made by a Democrat, so it carried more weight – but within the reports, the excuses rolled out.
ABC White House reporter Mary Bruce, who made many excuses for President Joe Biden, dragged out these words on "World News Tonight" on July 21: "The governor says about 400 of those noncitizens actually voted, but that there's no evidence their votes swayed any elections." She repeated herself the next morning on "Good Morning America."
Then-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., leaves the Democratic Senate Policy luncheon in the Capitol on Dec. 12, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
It was the same on NBC. On "NBC Nightly News," reporter Ryan Nobles asserted: "There's no evidence that any elections were swayed as a result." On "Today" the next morning, substitute host Sheinelle Jones repeated: "The governor said there's no evidence that any elections were swayed as a result."
But political experts know that in 2000, Florida found George W. Bush beat Vice President Al Gore by about 500 votes. In 2008, the November Senate race results in Minnesota showed Al Franken behind by 215 votes. After a mandatory recount, Franken led by 225 votes. After judges got involved, the final margin for Franken was 312. So, it’s not good journalism to insist there’s "no evidence" this might matter.
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They couldn’t stand that this disclosure added evidence to Republican charges that illegal immigrants are voting. ABC’s Bruce had to lunge back to attacking Trump: "The White House says the episode, quote, ‘underscores the absolute necessity of the SAVE America Act,’ President Trump's bill requiring voter ID and proof of citizenship. The president has been amping up his unproven claims of widespread election fraud, pointing a finger at China."
"Unproven?" Earth to Bruce: didn’t we just receive proof of fraudulent voting? They add weasel words like "widespread" so they can say "unproven."
On July 21, "CBS Evening News" covered this budding scandal for about 40 seconds, and then offered nothing on "CBS Mornings." The "PBS News Hour" gave it 48 seconds, and a soundbite of Sherrill saying it didn’t happen on her watch, as if Democrats weren’t controlling New Jersey in 2024. Anchor Geoff Bennett added that Trump "quickly seized on the New Jersey revelations." Their Republicans "seized" or "pounced" is so common, it’s become a meme.
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NPR’s "All Things Considered" did not consider this worth a story that night. It did find four minutes for this: "A federal lawsuit challenges the development of a Whites-only community in Arkansas." On the July 22 "Morning Edition," it turned to liberal expert David Becker, who turned on the rhetorical power washer.
"It's true that there are some situations where noncitizens get onto the voter list, usually accidentally – almost always accidentally," he insisted. "Because if you're here as a noncitizen, you wouldn't want to paint a bullseye on yourself just for the possibility that you might cast a single ballot in an election. That will get you deported and possibly prosecuted. So this happens extremely rarely. The numbers are very, very small."
The broadcast networks easily accepted Sherrill’s claims of a "computer glitch." But the software vendor, IDEMIA, pushed back, saying, ultimately, it is the responsibility of the state’s Division of Elections to verify voter eligibility. "The voter registration information is transmitted to the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Elections, which is ultimately responsible for verifying eligibility to vote," IDEMIA said. "Information submitted by IDEMIA must still be validated and adjudicated by the Division of Elections."
It was the same on NBC. On "NBC Nightly News," reporter Ryan Nobles asserted: "There's no evidence that any elections were swayed as a result."
That didn't make it on air.
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These networks did not report that the Department of Homeland Security sent letters last week alleging more than 256,000 potential noncitizen voter registrations across California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Blue states are never under suspicion for undermining election integrity, even as they deny the federal government access to their voter files.
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Doesn’t this seem like a subject that these supposed bulwarks of democracy can investigate? Instead, they pretend that Democrats can only allow illegal aliens to vote if it’s a "computer glitch." It's always an accident, never intentional.
This is why proclamations of "no evidence" are so frustrating. It’s journalists’ job to try to find the evidence of wrongdoing, not just automatically assert "no evidence" when the Republicans are right about anything. But their news judgment is transparently partisan. Democrats are eternally innocent babes in the woods on election integrity, and Trump is relentlessly painted as an undemocratic menace conspiring against reality.
