CNN’s Jake Tapper welcomed four newly elected members of the 119th Congress on his show this week, including 32-year-old U.S. Representative Yassamin Ansari (D-Arizona) — who won Ruben Gallego‘s seat as Gallego was elected to replace Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate — and Trump-endorsed Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas who defeated Democrat Ernest Lineberger III in a landslide.
Tapper asked the 30-year-old Texan Republican, who is joining the House Judiciary, Oversight and Budget Committees, “What do you make of Washington’s gerontocracy?” Gill replied, “That’s exactly what it is.”
Note: Gerontocracy is “a form of rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population.”
🚨 CNN’s Jake Tapper drops the “G” word, asking congressman about the gerontocracy – to which he replies “that’s exactly what it is”(!)
I cannot imagine this problem being openly discussed on cable news just a year ago. Something’s happening pic.twitter.com/h65JTjKXAL
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) January 6, 2025
Journalist Ken Klippenstein, formerly with The Intercept and The Nation, shared the CNN clip above and wrote: “CNN’s Jake Tapper drops the ‘G’ word.”
When Gill proceeded to complain about the “cognitive decline” of President Joe Biden, Tapper interjected that “it is a bipartisan affliction” and noted that it was just discovered that Texas Republican Congresswoman Kay Granger has been living in a memory care facility for the past six months.
Gill agreed with Tapper and replied, “I think that’s a huge, huge problem.”
Note: At 78, Donald Trump is the oldest person to be elected the President of the United States. Biden, the former owner of that distinction, was 77 when elected in November 2020.
