On Thursday, two Jewish journalists are expected to moderate the first debate between former President Donald Trump and Democratic incumbent Joe Biden in preparation for this year’s presidential election.
Given Israel’s controversial operations in Gaza, the escalating tensions with Hezbollah on Israel's northern border, and the worsening antisemitism on college campuses, Israel has taken center-stage in media discourse.
CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are set to moderate the upcoming 90-minute debate in Atlanta. Both Tapper and Bash have reported extensively on the Middle East.
The candidate who gets a second term will decide the future of the US-Israel relations.
Tapper receives backlash
Tapper, the host of the network’s afternoon program, The Lead With Jake Tapper received backlash during the escalating college campus protests in the US.
“We’re covering these [student] protests, and we’re covering free speech versus security on campus, we’re covering anti-Semitic behavior and language, this is taking room from my show that I would normally be spending covering what is going on in Gaza or what is going on with the International Criminal Court talking about maybe bringing charges," Tapper noted in late April. "We were talking about the ceasefire deal.”
He added, “So I don’t know that the protesters from a media perspective are accomplishing what they want to accomplish because I’m actually covering the issue and the pain of the Palestinians and the pain of the Israelis – not that they’re actually protesting for that – less because of this.”
Some viewers were outraged, arguing that Tapper was blaming college protesters for his decision to not talk about the suffering in Gaza.
On April 24, Tapper interviewed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Tapper commented, “I saw one [sign] at [the] University of Texas earlier today that said something about Palestine, and it’s a map of all of Israel, including the West Bank and Gaza as if that is all Palestine. Does that cross a line? Some Israelis might say, ‘you’re saying that Israel shouldn’t exist anymore.’”
Some pro-Palestinian viewers expressed disappointment in Tapper’s condemnation of the poster, which some claim called for the elimination of Israel.
Protestors harass Tapper's kids at his private residence
Tapper’s Israel coverage has led to protestors appearing in front of his residence. A video on X, formerly Twitter, shows Code Pink protestors swarming Tapper’s private residence, yelling at his children that their father was “committing war crimes.”
Code Pink is a left-wing, feminist, anti-war group. The protestors claimed that Tapper had “spewed Israeli propaganda” and had refused to refer to the deaths of civilians in Gaza as a “genocide.”
In the video, Tapper’s kids can be seen standing on a balcony and waving to the protesters as they blasted the “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
One protester, who brought a bullhorn, yelled, “You may be laughing now, but one day you will realize the damage that your dad has caused, and I promise this big house won’t be worth it. You’re waving, and you’re watching, and you think it’s really funny, but the truth is — is that it’s really sick, okay?”
Dana Bash
Dana Bash anchors the daily Inside Politics show and co-hosts the Sunday morning program, State of the Union with Tapper.
Bash, who has also received backlash for her Israel commentary, is moderating the debate alongside Tapper.
In early May, Bash reported on the antisemitic violence on college campuses, saying, “Destruction, violence, and hate overtake college campuses across the country with Jewish students feeling unsafe at their own schools. It is unacceptable, and harkening back to the 1930s in Europe.”
CNN viewers accused her of distributing propaganda and ignoring “decades of history” in the Middle East prior to October 7.
In this immediate aftermath of October 7, Tapper covered the challenging tasks of identifying the remains of victims, highlighted the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas, and interviewed both survivors and families of Israeli hostages.
As the conflict escalated, he also reported on Palestinian Americans trapped in Gaza.
Last year, Bash conducted a comprehensive report on antisemitism for a CNN documentary, "Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America."