After Donald Trump on Monday began to float the bizarre conspiracy theory that Bill and Hillary Clinton were responsible for murdering former aide Vince Foster, CNN anchor Jake Tapper called out Trump's suggestion on live television for exactly what it was: absurd.
Foster died by suicide in 1993, but conspiracy theorists have repeatedly tried -- unsuccessfully -- to tie the Clintons to his death. That hasn't stopped Trump from doing the same thing.
“I don’t bring [Foster’s death] up because I don’t know enough to really discuss it. I will say there are people who continue to bring it up because they think it was absolutely a murder. I don’t do that because I don’t think it’s fair," Trump told The Washington Post. The presumptive Republican nominee called the circumstances of Foster's death "very fishy" said the murder theories were "very serious."
Many have criticized the media for giving Trump an unbelievable amount of free air time and not challenging him on outlandish statements. But Tapper on Tuesday explained exactly why Trump's comments were ridiculous.
The anchor noted that there is nothing serious at all about the theories, pointing out that six different investigations found that Foster died by suicide.
"[Trump] lent credence to a bizarre and unfounded conspiracy theory. Though you're right, it's not fair that you did that, certainly not to Mr. Foster's widow or their three children," Tapper said.
"To be clear, the notion that this was a murder is a fiction, borne of delusion, untethered to reality and contradicted by evidence reviewed in at least six investigations -- one of them by Ken Starr, hardly a Bill Clinton defender," he continued. "To say otherwise is ridiculous and frankly, shameful."
Tapper concluded by saying his comments weren't meant to support Clinton or Trump, but were simply "pro-truth."
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.
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