Jake Tapper, is releasing a new novel set in 1960s Hollywood. The lead characters in The Devil May Dance are consultants during the making of the classic film. This is the original 1962 two version of the Manchurian Candidate. The movie, which stars Frank Sinatra, is about a communist brainwashing plot to kill a presidential nominee.
- The speech is short, but it's the most rousing speech I've ever read. It's been worked on here and in Russia on and off for over eight years, like before someone to take the body away from him. And Johnny will relieve microphones and those cameras with blood all over, fighting off anyone who tries to help him defending America, even if it means his own death, rattling a nation of television viewers into hysteria to sweep us up into the White House with powers that will make martial law seem like anarchy.
- You didn't know Angela Lansbury could be so scary. Did you?
- No.
- In Tapper's thriller, the main character's befriends Sinatra, attend the '62 Oscars, and watch Marilyn Monroe serenade President Kennedy. Jake Tapper, good morning.
JAKE TAPPER: Good morning.
- Congratulations on writing a book in the pandemic.
- Yeah.
JAKE TAPPER: Thank you so much. It actually was a great escape. I could step aside from the horrors we were all reporting on and spend an hour or two with the Rat Pack in 1962. It was a pleasure.
- It's a fabulous premise. I want to talk about it in just a second, but let me just start with what's going on in Washington right now. Because we've got the House Republicans in their effort to oust Congresswoman Liz Cheney from the leadership for her opposition to President Trump. What do you think the impact of this is going to be?
JAKE TAPPER: Well, I'm very afraid that the impact is going to be that the Republican Party, which did not put forth a platform in 2020, is going to increasingly stand for fealty to Trump, and the things that he says that aren't true about the election, the lies that he tells instead of being about conservative values. I mean, Liz Cheney by any stretch is more conservative than Elise Stefanik, who's probably going to replace her--
- Right.
JAKE TAPPER: --voted with the Trump agenda policy wise more often than Elise Stefanik, who's probably going to replace her. And yet, the only real difference here is Stefanik is willing to tell these crazy election lies about the vote in Arizona coming in on bamboo ballots from Asia or all sorts of things that just aren't true. And Cheney won't do that, so you know, look, this country needs a thriving Republican Party to represent all the conservative views of tens of millions of Americans out there. But it needs to be based in fact.
- Jake, you say you won't book any politicians on your show who have lied about the 2020 election. What brought you to that point, and aren't you going to be leaving out a lot of leading Republicans?
JAKE TAPPER: It's not a policy per se, like I'm not going to do it. But it's something that I grapple with, and just in the name of transparency, discuss, which is, yes, since the election, I haven't booked anybody that shares election lies. You know, I have booked plenty of conservative Republicans on the show.
We just had the governor of Utah on State of the Union, yesterday. We had Adam Kinzinger, last week. I mean, there are conservative Republicans out there who are not willing to lie. But the question I have, and it's one that I suspect we all grapple with, which is, if these politicians are willing to share lies about the election, what else are they willing to lie about? And is that a service to my viewers or a disservice?
Because we know that, you know, not just according to us in the media, but according to Republican election officials, Republican governors, Republican appointed judges, the US Supreme Court, you know, the election was fair and square. Joe Biden won. There was no massive fraud. So if we know that to be true, what are we doing to the discourse? And what are we doing for our viewers if we bring on people who are willing to lie about it?
- I'm with you, Jake, when it comes to grappling with it. Listen, I'm all for a difference of opinion, but let's, at least, start with the facts and the truth. But let's talk about The Devil May Dance. May I hold up The Devil May Dance?
JAKE TAPPER: OK.
- OK, I'm wondering how you did this. Because listen, last time I checked, you're on TV all the time. Are you writing in between commercial breaks? And the story storyline is so intricate. I want to know your process, and how you came up with this storyline. Because say, as you point out, it's very relevant today. Go, Jake Tapper. Go.
JAKE TAPPER: So my writing rule is, if you're in the middle of a writing project, write, at least, 15 minutes a day. It's not really that crazy a demand, 15 minutes a day. And if that's all you do by the end of the week, you have an hour and 45 minutes worth of writing. That's several pages, so that was one.
- OK.
JAKE TAPPER: I was able to do a little bit more, because I didn't have a commute from April to August--
- That's right, because you're home. Right.
JAKE TAPPER: --of last year, because I worked from home. And then in terms of the plot, I was inspired because of the real story. Sinatra worked his heart out to get President Kennedy elected in 1960, and then when President Kennedy was going to come out to California in 1962, Sinatra had his Rancho Mirage estate built up in preparation for a presidential visit, new rooms, phone lines, a helipad. But Attorney General Kennedy-- this is all true. Attorney General Kennedy, who was battling organized crime, started wondering, well, should I let my brother stay at a house, where mobsters have stayed, like Sanjayan [? Encarna? ?]
So that's the premise, and that's a real story. And on that, I just inserted my main characters, Charlie and Margaret, into that story. You know, there's a murder mystery. There's all sorts of conspiracies. The Church of Scientology makes an appearance, because it's forming. I mean, I hope a fun adventure. So far, the reviews have been good. Thank God.
- And Jake, of all the things you had to invent for this book, you invented the lyrics to fake Sinatra songs.
- I loved that part.
- Putting the title, The Devil May Dance.
- Nicely done.
JAKE TAPPER: Yeah, well, that was fun, because the lawyers are going through the book to make sure that I don't quote any songs longer than a line. Because, if I do, then the lawyers from the publishing houses can come in and demand money. And I get this call from the lawyers, like what are you doing? You quoted-- you have an entire Sinatra song in here in this intricate part of the plot. You can't do that. I said, it's not real. I made it up.
Source:-https://news.yahoo.com/jake-tapper-politics-historical-thriller-132747290.html
