A defamation lawsuit brought against CNN host Jake Tapper by a veteran was recently allowed to proceed in a significant legal blow to the media personality. During coverage of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Tapper had reported on Navy veteran Zachary Young, suggesting that his company was taking advantage of desperate Afghans seeking refuge from war.
The latest ruling allows Young to move forward in collecting damages for the negative coverage about him on the left-leaning network. In the recent court decision, a judge determined that a “correction” issued by CNN was inadequate to remove the prospect of punitive damages requested in the lawsuit. In his reporting on Young, Tapper accused Young of operating his company in the black market, suggesting that he was operating illegally.
Furthermore, CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt added that “desperate” Afghans were being “exploited” by Young’s operation that charged “exorbitant, often impossible amounts” to rescue his clients. However, several months after CNN had aired its first segment on Young, Tapper issued an apology live on-air regarding their previous statements about the Navy veteran.
“And before we go, a correction. In November, we ran a story about Afghans desperate to pay high sums beyond the reach of average Afghans,” Tapper said in March 2022. “The story included a lead-in and banner throughout the story that referenced a black market. The use of the term black market in the story was in error. The story included reporting on Zachary Young, a private operator who had been contacted by family members of Afghans trying to flee the country. We didn’t mean to suggest that Mr. Young participated in the black market. We regret the error and to Mr. Young, we apologize.”
However, the court determined the apology was an insufficient correction as opposed to a complete retraction. “The retraction/correction was not made during the other television shows in which the Segment aired. No retraction, correction or apology was posted on any online article or with any social media posting. Defendant’s representatives referred to the statement made on the Jake Tapper show as a correction rather than a retraction,” according to Judge William S. Henry.
“Young’s limited posts do not constitute him thrusting himself ‘to the forefront’ of the Afghanistan evacuation ‘controversy,’” the decision from the court added. “While Young was clearly trying to advertise his services, it can hardly be said that he played a sufficiently central role or was at the forefront in being able to influence the resolution of all those unable to escape Afghanistan.”
The news regarding the major sparked a reaction from users on social media, where commentator SANTINO, wrote, “🚨BREAKING: Navy veteran Zachary Young has won a number of crucial trial motions in his defamation case against far-left CNN and Jake Tapper. As Breitbart News reported, in November of 2021, during Biden’s disastrous evacuation of Afghanistan when the fake media were looking to turn anyone not named Joe Biden into a villain, Jake Tapper told his viewers, “Afghans trying to get out of the country face a black market full of promises, demands of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.”
Watch Tapper react to Kamala Harris’s defeat in the 2024 election:
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