Jacob Paul "Jake" Tapper (born March 12, 1969) is an American journalist, cartoonist, and author. , Tapper is the Chief Washington Correspondent for CNN, anchor of the CNN weekday television news show The Lead with Jake Tapper, and anchor of the CNN and CNN International Sunday morning affairs program State of the Union. In 2016, The Lead was honored with two National Headliner Awards: Best Newscast (Broadcast television networks, cable networks and syndicators) and Best Coverage of a Major News Event (Broadcast television networks, cable networks and syndicators newscast) for the show's coverage of the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015.
Prior to working for CNN, Tapper worked for ABC News. The White House Correspondents' Association honored his work as Senior White House Correspondent with ABC News with three Merriman Smith Memorial Awards for broadcast journalism, an unprecedented three times in a row.