Despite being front and center in headlines over his tell-all book Original Sin—a chronicle of President Joe Biden’s mental decline and the alleged internal cover-up—Jake Tapper’s primetime show The Lead has hit historic lows. And not just relatively low. We’re talking lowest viewership in nearly a decade, according to recently released Nielsen data.
From April 28 through May 25, The Lead with Jake Tapper averaged just 525,000 total viewers, down a staggering 25% compared to the same period last year. That’s an audience collapse that any executive would view as an emergency, especially at a time when Tapper is in the media spotlight doing the rounds for his high-profile book.
Jake Tapper squirms and stammers when asked if he wrote his book as a money grab:
“The idea that I would do this for money is just silly and not true.”
The man lies for a living. You’d think he’d be better at it by now. pic.twitter.com/NfIA8RZNBV
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 29, 2025
By comparison, Fox News continues to dominate. Its programs The Five and Special Report with Bret Baier averaged 3.3 million viewers during the same timeframe, eclipsing Tapper’s numbers by more than a factor of six. Even MSNBC, with its own ratings woes, managed to pull double Tapper’s viewership, clocking in at just over one million during his time slot.
The most damning number? Tapper captured just 11% of the total cable news audience in his time slot. Fox News grabbed a commanding 68%, while MSNBC snagged 21%. For a network still trying to find its post-Trump footing, CNN’s decline is especially painful. April–May 2024 has now gone down as Tapper’s worst-rated period since August 2015.
The picture gets even worse in the advertiser-coveted 25–54 age demographic. Tapper’s show averaged just 95,000 viewers in that key group, a 15% drop from the prior year. For advertisers—and CNN’s business model—that’s not just disappointing. It’s unsustainable.
So which charity(s) will be receiving 100% of his proceeds from the book sales? https://t.co/MZUrwlBu8b
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) May 29, 2025
Ironically, Tapper’s media blitz around Original Sin may have alienated the very audience CNN has been cultivating. The book, which explores internal frustrations among Biden’s staff and serious concerns about his cognitive condition, has drawn sharp criticism from the left. On social media platforms like X, progressive voices have accused Tapper of giving ammunition to Republicans and turning on his own side.
Even Tapper’s recent interview with Stephen A. Smith revealed an awkward moment when asked if he wrote the book for money. “CNN is my main job,” Tapper replied, clarifying it’s his primary source of income. Smith laughed—perhaps at the irony of a journalist promoting a controversial book while watching his core product bleed viewers.
