‘Ever Think You’d Hear That On CNN? It DOES Exonerate Donald Trump!’ Fox & Friends Applauds Jake Tapper Over Durham Report

The hosts of Fox & Friends were delighted by Jake Tapper’s commentary on the Durham Report, exclaiming “Did you ever think you’d hear that on CNN? It does exonerate Donald Trump!”

John Durham, the special counsel appointed by Trump Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the origins and conduct of the Trump/Russia investigation, released his report Monday to near-universal agreement that it did not live up to the hype it received on the political right.

That includes Tapper, who reported on the release by pointing out it fell short of the promised “bombshell” revelations, but also said it was “devastating to the FBI, and to a degree it does exonerate Donald Trump”:

For years Donald Trump and his supporters pinned their hopes on the investigation by the former U.S. attorney for Connecticut. John Durham named special counsel by Attorney General Bill Barr, Trump and his allies arguing it would exonerate him from any hint of improper behavior regarding the Russian government’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 election.

Durham is coming, was the slogan and meme tweeted by Republican lawmakers and the president’s family, hinting that Durham would lead to bombshell indictments of those who investigated Trump. Now, the bombshell indictments did not happen. Durham did get one minor court victory, two court losses. But President Trump appeared so confident of what Durham would find, he openly pressured the special counsel to release the findings before the 2020 election.

Regardless, the report is here, it has dropped. And it might have not produced everything of what some Republicans hope for, it is regardless devastating to the FBI, and to a degree it does exonerate Donald Trump.

On Tuesday morning’s edition of Fox & Friends, co-hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade seized on the latter remark to praise the CNN anchor for going where the rest of the non-conservative media would not:

STEVE DOOCY: Well, you know, ultimately, Jake Tapper over on CNN, he took a look at what has transpired and the results of the Durham report. And he said not good for the FBI. Watch this. Here he is, Jake Tapper.

JAKE TAPPER (VIDEO CLIP): Regardless, the report is now here. It has dropped and it might not have produced everything of what some Republicans hoped for. It is, regardless devastating to the FBI and to a degree, it does exonerate Donald Trump.

STEVE DOOCY: And here’s the thing.

BRIAN KILMEADE: Did you ever think you’d hear that on CNN? It does exonerate Donald Trump! Sure. The last person you’d think to do that!

AINSLEY EARHARDT: It was one big political smear, all in an effort to direct who was going to win that election.

Later in the show, Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee accused the media of being “willfully blind” to the facts in Durham’s report, and Earhardt called back to their earlier conversation to praise Tapper:

AINSLEY EARHARDT: Except for Jake Tapper, Brian alerted us to that sound bite this morning. We played it earlier in the show. He was, what did he say? It was outrageous. He couldn’t believe this…

BRIAN KILMEADE: He said the FBI looks terrible and in many cases, Donald Trump is vindicated!

SEN. MIKE LEE: Yeah, I and that is, to Jake Tapper’s credit, I think he should be applauded for acknowledging that.

Watch above via Fox & Friends.