Meet Jennifer Tapper — The Woman Married To Jake Tapper, Moderator Of The Democratic Debates
She's more than just a pretty face.
Getty While watching the Democratic debates, you might have seen a face that looked familiar but you couldn't quite place. That face belonged to Jennifer Tapper, the wife of CNN correspondent and anchor, Jake Tapper. Jennifer has always been politically active and that's part of what attracted Jake to her in the first place! A former Planned Parenthood director, Jennifer is an advocate for women and for children. When you find out a little bit more about her background, you may be surprised by how much you find yourself craving a Tapper and Tapper news hour! Who is Jake Tapper's wife?
1. How They Met
Jennifer first met Jake Tapper when he was working for ABC as a correspondent covering the 2004 Presidential campaign for the network. According to Tapper, his time at ABC was extremely challenging, and not just professionally. In an interview, Jake revealed that working with the network was also "horrible" on his family life. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to push Jennifer away and thank goodness for that, because to hear Jake tell it she was his saving grace during that difficult time. "I wouldn’t be able to be here if it weren’t for Jen and her complete understanding of this job and my drive,” Tapper has said in the past when reflecting on his marriage and his career and the way that the two spheres have influenced each other.
2. Life Before Jake
As you can imagine, a woman like Jennifer wasn't just sitting around waiting for a reporter to come into her life and whisk her off her feet, either. Jennifer was the regional field manager for Planned Parenthood in Washington D.C. for a long time. Her role with PP was an important one. She spent most of her time in the role educating people who already supported Planned Parenthood as well as recruiting new backers to support the cause. Prior to launching her career, Jennifer attended the University of Missouri, Kansas City. She has humble roots too, something that makes her hugely relatable: her father owned a dollar store in Kansas when she was growing up and her mom worked in customer service for Southwest Airlines.
3. Finding The Dream Home
The couple wanted to find their dream home together after they tied the knot, and they weren't going to rush out and buy the first place they saw. Thankfully, they still had Jake's bachelor pad to get them by. Eventually, their real estate agent located a massive four floor home and the two knew this was their place. “There was so much natural light. I had a deep emotional connection to it on one level because it reminds me a lot of my grandparents’ house…from the bookshelves in the living room to the light to the trees,” Tapper said. But the house definitely needed a woman's touch, too. “Every wall was white,” Jennifer said. “There were these thick curtains in the great room. It seemed kind of closed in and dark. We wanted to make it feel more like a home, give it some warmth and make it a happy place to walk into.”
4. Jennifer Is Old Fashioned
Every parent has to come up with their own policy when it comes to navigating screen time with kids especially with the wealth of different devices that are available to them know. Jennifer has never been a fan of her kids playing games on the computer or on the iPad. But that doesn't mean she's leaving the kids to fend for themselves when it comes to recreation. She would rather that they all play traditional boad games together and enjoy family time. “Despite what I heard from one particular public radio report about the benefits for children of the game Minecraft, it should be avoided. Board games are always better than an iPad; sitting down to dinner together is a must, no matter what grownup stuff is going on," she opined.
5. The Value Of DC Living
While Jennifer might no longer be working with Planned Parenthood, she's still an activist and believes in making change. That's part of what remains so important to her about living in the country's capital. “With all its passionate people trying to improve the world, and those policymakers who have the power to do so, it’s one of the reasons I love living in this town,” Jennifer said. Currently, she's working as an advocacy consultant and when she's not doing that or raising her own children, she works as a volunteer reading to kids. “I also volunteer with AmeriCorps’ reading partners program, helping first and second graders to read. That time every week allows me to understand that people need each other, and the most important thing we can do every day is to be kind," she said.
6. Jake Before Jennifer
Though the couple is happily married now and has two children (Alice, 9 and Jack, 6) Jake was once a happy bachelor in D.C. who dated more than his fair share of pretty young things. Perhaps the most infamous among them was Monica Lewinsky. Tapper revealed that he briefly dated Monica just a couple of weeks before news of the scandal broke and found her to be "a sweet girl." “It’s not that we didn’t hit it off, it’s just that D.C. tends to be a town where things are compressed. In order for something to last, it has to rear up huge to begin with. We’re busy; we have schedules. I’m already booked for half my nights next week, and little of it involves fun. The way Monica and I came together—at a goodbye party for someone else, with her right on the cusp of leaving herself—wasn’t exactly the stuff of commitment.”
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.