Tapper is just another now-former journalist who has been brought to heel by Trump and turned into a shill. He fears reprisals more than he values his integrity. A real journalist would not be intimidated so easily, but TV journalists have now become celebrities and are paid like celebrities so they now have more to lose than the ink-stained wretches of long ago. Today, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable carries too much risk and, when all is said and done, guys like Tapper are themselves "the comfortable" now, so why rock the boat?