CNN’s Jake Tapper Calls Out John Kerry, ISIS Not ‘On The Run’

CNN’s Jake Tapper recently pressed Secretary of State John Kerry after he said that ISIS was “on the run.” After a recent spat of ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks, the comments by the chief diplomat might seem difficult to believe, but Kerry insists that they’ve got the terrorist organization in a tight spot.

According to Real Clear Politics, in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union, Secretary John Kerry said that allied forces had destroyed ISIS’s ability to attack and hold towns.

“Daesh, ISIL in Syria and Iraq is under great, great pressure and people are acting out in various places, but they are not growing in their ability to do things. They are shrinking. We’ve taken back 40 percent and 45 percent of the territory they held in Iraq.”

He added, “They are on the run, and I believe what we’re seeing are the desperate actions of an entity that sees the noose closing around it.”

That remark didn’t sit well with Jake Tapper, who brought up the recent ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks.

“With all due respect, sir. I’m not sure it looks that way to the public that ISIS is on the run… In the last few weeks we have seen a series of ISIS inspired attacks and 49 killed in Orlando and 45 killed in Istanbul and more than 200 killed in Baghdad and 84 in Nice.”

Jake Tapper even suggested that it seemed like the group was expanding.

The Orlando nightclub shooting happened back on June 12th, meaning that the four major terrorist attacks Tapper listed above happened over the course of about five weeks. The Baghdad bombings, where over 300 people died from ISIS attacks, were particularly disturbing for U.S. efforts to stabilize the Middle East.

Jake Tapper did not mention numerous mass executions perpetrated by the Islam State or the dozens of small attacks that fall under the definition of terrorism.

Still, John Kerry held his ground, saying that at least one of the incidents Tapper described was not relevant to the successes he was describing.

“It depends on where you mean ISIS. If you’re saying that one person standing up one day and killing people is a reflection of ISIS moving in Iraq and Syria, I think you’re dead wrong.”

ISIS’s influence in the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting is still a controversial subject according to the Washington Post. The shooter, Omar Mateen, is considered a lone wolf by many, but also pledged his allegiance to ISIS before he was shot dead by local law enforcement. The Islamic State took credit for the attack afterwards.

As John Kerry explained, “If people are inspired, they’re inspired, but ISIL which is based in Syria is under huge pressure and that is just a fact.”

Nevertheless, ISIS seems to have been active in inspiring violence during the time period Tapper mentioned. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Islamic State called for an increase in attacks for the Ramadan holiday, June 6th to July 7th, and multiple attacks were carried out in ISIS’s name during that time. Whether or not the terrorist organization is “on the run,” it did manage an enormous amount of carnage in a limited time.

Secretary John Kerry admitted that as the campaign continues, more ISIS fighters have been pushed out into vulnerable areas.

“There are thousands of fighters, some of whom left the area of the fighting years ago and they are sitting in some community somewhere in the world.”

Jake Tapper’s harsh questioning for John Kerry is a stark reminder of the violence seen around the world this summer.

[Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images]