Former President George W. Bush’s White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer is criticizing Jake Tapper and his new book about former President Joe Biden, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again — without reading it.
Fleischer wrote on X: “I can’t and I won’t read Jake Tapper’s book about former President Biden’s mental decline and its cover up by the WH.”
He added: “It’s a giant pile of hypocrisy, coming from an author who routinely demeaned GOP guests who raised alarms about Biden’s health. Tapper, more than most reporters, shut down accurate allegations about Biden in a condescending, Tapper-knows-best, how dare you way.”
I can’t and I won’t read Jake Tapper’s book about former President Biden’s mental decline and its cover up by the WH.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) May 21, 2025
It’s a giant pile of hypocrisy, coming from an author who routinely demeaned GOP guests who raised alarms about Biden’s health. Tapper, more than most…
Fleischer wrote: “Jake never displayed a good reporter’s curiosity or open-mindedness about the allegations. Instead, he played the role of a partisan Biden guard dog. Now he will make money by parroting the accusations he shot down. The episode is everything wrong with the media today.”
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Elon Musk’s social media platform X, replied to Fleischer’s media hypocrisy charge with two words in all caps: “SPOT ON!”
SPOT ON!
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) May 21, 2025
On Monday, Yaccarino appeared at the White House with President Donald Trump when he signed the Take It Down Act, legislation targeting internet deep fakes.
(The full name of the law, from which the shorter name is derived, is: Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act.)
With the photos below, Yaccarino wrote that X will continue to work alongside Republicans — Sen. Ted Cruz (TX), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (TN) and Rep. Nancy Mace (SC) — “to do everything possible to make the internet safer, especially for children.”
Note: The bill was introduced by a bipartisan coalition led by Cruz and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
Honored to be at the @WhiteHouse today as @POTUS signed the Take It Down Act. Grateful to @FLOTUS for her dedication to ensuring safety. @X will continue to work alongside @SenTedCruz @MarshaBlackburn @RepNancyMace and @NCMEC to do everything possible to make the internet safer,… pic.twitter.com/JFZvwG90dX
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) May 19, 2025
Critics of the Take It Down Act — which creates new federal mandates requiring platforms (like X) to remove nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII) and deep fakes within 48 hours of reporting — express concern that it expands bureaucratic oversight through FTC enforcement.
In a press release, Dr. Mary Anne Franks, President of Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, called the provision “highly susceptible to misuse” and likely to be “counter-productive for victims.”
Franks wrote: “I am gratified that the bill incorporates much of the language of the model federal statute against NDII I first drafted in 2013 and much of the language I have developed on sexually explicit forgeries. But the TAKE IT DOWN Act also includes a poison pill: an extremely broad takedown provision that will likely end up hurting victims more than it helps.”
Jason Kelley, Activism Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), also warned that the law could be used by politicians including Trump “to manipulate platforms into removing lawful speech that they simply don’t like.”
Supporting Kelley’s assertion, Trump said of the bill: “I’m going to use that bill for myself too, if you don’t mind, because nobody gets treated worse than I do online, nobody.”
