Tapper Hires PR Crisis Guru as Biden Book Backlash Erupts

Headline USA ^ | 05/15/2025 | Luis Cornelio

[DFG]

Embattled CNN anchor Jake Tapper has enlisted a PR crisis guru amid scathing criticism of his new book, which claims to expose former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline—despite spending years attacking conservatives for making the same argument.

Tapper and co-author Alex Thompson hired crisis communications expert Risa Heller and her firm Heller Co., to help in their May 20 launch of Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.

Heller is no stranger to scandal. She represented disgraced figures like former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who resigned after a secret affair with an employee, and former Rep. Anthony Weiner, infamous for his sexting scandals.

Tapper defended the hire as an apparent bid to make the book’s “rollout as smart as possible.” He also claimed Heller would merely provide “advice.” However, the timing tells a different story.

Heller’s hiring was first reported by Breaker Media and the Daily Beast.

Tapper’s move comes as he faces backlash for dismissing conservative journalists who spent years reporting on Biden’s cognitive decline when it mattered—not months after he stepped away from public office.

In his new book, Tapper claims Biden once discussed putting him in a wheelchair if he won re-election and that he forgot who George Clooney was at a 2024 fundraiser.

Here’s the kicker: outlets like Headline USA covered these developments last year, with President Donald Trump once predicting that Biden would be thrown on a wheelchair.

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TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS: alexthompson; georgeclooney; jaketapper; originalsin; pages

[Dilbert San Diego]

Sanctimonious Jake Tapper needs a crisis management firm, to sell his book?

Anyone here interested in reading his book?

[Clutch Martin]

“Heller is no stranger to scandal. She represented disgraced figures like former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who resigned after a secret affair with an employee, and former Rep. Anthony Weiner, infamous for his.. “

What does she do again? She ain’t batting .500 that’s for sure...

[j.havenfarm]

We know book deals are a way to launder money to political figures, but I don’t imagine that also pertains to media authors. So, my question: who buys books like this? I wouldn’t buy it just on principle, but if I didn’t refuse to put dime one in Tapper’s pocket, would I really learn more by shelling out 20 or 30 bucks as opposed to reading accounts of its contents? I guess there are suckers out there who will buy it or it wouldnt be published

Beyond that, I think Jake gets the gold medal for the media figure utterly depraved and lacking any integrity at all. We’ve all seen the clip of him going after Lara Trump for raising this issue back in the day. As the article notes, he was part of the conspiracy, now shamelessly purports to expose it

[poinq]

Tapper is an evil propagandist. He is paid to look like a serious person. And if he can’t get people to believe he is serious than he is of no use to anyone. But he is not just wrong. He is not just mistaken. He is evil. He lies very easily. And he does it with such sanctimony that old ladies think he is telling the truth. CNN can never betaken seriously as long as Tapper is there. Of course if he leaves it does not mean CNN is good. It just means we will take another look.

[Chgogal]

MSM lies to your face.

[HamiltonJay]

I love how they continue to want to claim this was a cover up of his DECLINE.

The man was NOT FIT FOR OFFICE FROM THE START!

They knowingly and willfully lied cheated and stole in 2020 to get him elected...

Yes he declined further over the years, but they still want people to believe he was fit as a fiddle in 2020 when he was not, he clearly had been suffering from dementia for YEARS prior to 2020 and I would openly bet if anyone got their hands on Biden’s complete medical record you would find he was diagnosed formally with dementia or some other progressive cognitive issue at least 5 years prior to 2020 if not further.

Liars, ALL.

[dandiegirl]

Tapper obviously doesn’t rate highly in the intelligence department.

[Jean2]

The only thing I can of having his book is to use it for a doorstop.

[Ann Archy]

He doesn’t look SERIOUS....he looks CONSTIPATED!!

[SmokingJoe]

“PR crisis guru”?

[Billthedrill]

Crapper is going to need a lot of luck. Half of the country hates him and the other half is still in denial and doesn’t want to hear it.

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

So, my question: who buys books like this?

This is sort of the long-term tactic of creating an air of credibility for other journalists who will quote from the book as part of their own defense.

It's sort of how some sketchy media type will post a fake story, then other outlets can say, "As reported by . . . ". This is how the Steele Dossier made it onto the mainstream media. They weren't actually reporting the contents of the dossier, but rather reporting what had been reported. It's sort of a technicality that reporters think allows them to appear truthful. But all normal people know that they are being deceptive.

Tapper's book is for media insiders only. Everyone knows it's untruthful.

[RBStealth]

Tapper? he’s one of those news grifters

[poinq]

You don’t have to buy a book to make it successful. Every library in the country buys these books. Sometimes several copies. And so the book is a best seller. The libraries are run by democrats. That is the scam. Every library board in America is run by a bunch of democrats who hire head librarians and pay for over priced liberal books. In many states the local libraries have the power to tax, and aren’t under any city governments.

[Night Hides Not]

First thing he should do is publicly apologize to Lara Trump. No way am I buying that book.

Just picked up Fr. Robert Spitzer’s new book, Have to finish Return to Order first (John Horvath).

[Sarah Barracuda]

The job of the media is to protect the Democrat party AT ALL COSTS, they are like Pravda but even worse..heck they put North Korean news and Iranian news to shame..they are ONLY going after biden now because they consider him a liability to their agenda, they adored him when he was just an empty vessel, paraded around when necessary, others were signing the orders for the left’s agenda, not him, he was locked in a closet and periodically taken out and doped up when he had to speak..biden was never president, he just fit the suit

[Red Badger]

This really point s out their hypocrisy. Tapper can’t read the room.

Writing a book essentially telling people you lied to them for four plus years isn’t going to sell. He should have known that, unless he figured people were way more stupid than they actually are..................

[catnipman]

“Anyone here interested in reading his book?”

ROTFLOL!

no reason to: there won’t be anything in it that anyone paying attention didn’t already know, including the fact that Tapper is a lying shill for the Democrat fascist regime ...

[catnipman]

“The only thing I can of having his book is to use it for a doorstop.”

well yeah, but you can plenty of those kinds of doorstops from places like Goodwill for under a buck ... which is where i’d imagine a bunch of these specific doorstops will land very shortly anyway ...