Jake Tapper ‘Lucky to Still Have a Job’ After He Berated Producer in Humiliating Hot Mic Moment

Jake Tapper is in the firing line after a humiliating hot mic moment when the CNN host berated his own producers for cutting away from his on-location live shot to the studio, sources tell Globe.

In the embarrassing incident, Tapper, 56, was broadcasting live from President Donald Trump’s Aug. 15 summit in Alaska with Russian despot Vladimir Putin. When producers cut away from his live coverage in Anchorage, he fumed to his studio colleagues, “just give me my show back,” a snarky remark that accidentally made it on air.

“Tapper’s outburst was so unprofessional — but extremely telling,” confides one network insider. “He’s been PO’d since getting booted from prime time after the 2022 midterm elections and denied a raise last year.”

The Lead With Jake Tapper now airs weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. ET.

“To be honest, he’s lucky to still have a job and he knows it,” the insider adds. “The stress of being so exposed, career-wise, is probably getting him hot under the collar.”

A rep for Tapper denies he is feeling the heat of the firing line, and says, “There is zero truth to this story. CNN experienced repeated technical issues with Jake’s audio and communications throughout special coverage.”

But as readers know, CNN’s tight-fisted new boss, Mark Thompson, is hell-bent on cutting costs after a ratings meltdown that has seen the onetime cable monolith shed a staggering 47 percent of its audience after the November election, dropping from 1.4 million viewers to just 632,000 in prime time.

Some nights, the all-news channel is even bested by the Food Network!

And the embarrassing hot mic moment isn’t Jake’s only recent scandal.

The notorious bloviator also took major heat earlier this year for coauthoring a lucrative, best-selling book, Original Sin, about the alleged White House cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s infirmities after cheerleading for the former commander in chief while he was in office.

Tapper was accused of a cold-blooded cash grab, though a CNN spokesperson insisted the exposé only came together after the election.

Now, sources say his on-air gripes are not helping the marginalized mouthpiece maintain his already shaky standing at the ratings-challenged network.

“Jake is sweating bullets, and this latest incident does nothing to help him,” says the insider. “Mark is looking for reasons to cut costs and Jake just gave him one.”