'Wow!' Jake Tapper astounded by Tina Peters' first interview after being freed from prison

CNN's Jake Tapper was visibly taken aback by new comments made by election denier and disgraced county clerk Tina Peters after she was released from prison on Monday.

Peters appeared on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast after her release, where she claimed that she was sent to jail for exposing a Democratic plot to steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump. Her comments echoed some of the claims she made in court during her case, in which the judge described her as a "charlatan" who was abusing her position of authority to help the Trump campaign in its efforts to overturn the election results.

"Wow!" Tapper said on his show, "The Lead," as he played a short clip of Peters on Bannon's show. "A lot of untruthful statements there."

Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison for her efforts to help the Trump campaign following the 2020 election. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, commuted her sentence last month, claiming that it was too harsh for a first-time offender.

The Democratic Party of Colorado censured Polis for granting Peters clemency.

Peters's comments also outraged several political analysts and observers.

"Fresh out of prison, Tina Peters is spending her first hours back in front of the camera doing what she does best: pushing the same election lies that got her convicted in the first place," Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) posted on X.

"Nice work by Jared Polis," Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the MeidasTouch Network, posted on X.

"I'm sorry, but @jaredpolis needs to resign. He just handed MAGA their victimhood narrative on a silver platter and poured gasoline on the election-lies dumpster fire. Everyone saw this coming, and he granted Peters clemency anyway," Joshua Reed Eakle, a liberal political communications expert, posted on X.