The Shocking Joke ABC's Jake Tapper Told Jimmy Kimmel to Cut from WHCA Stand-Up

Newt Gingrich's campaign is so dead Mitt Romney wants to baptize it and Rick Santorum wants to put it in a jar and show it to his kids.

That's the joke that didn't make Jimmy Kimmel's stand-up at the White House Correspondent's dinner.

The comedian joked during the glamorous Beltway dinner last month about how ABC's Jake Tapper helped him think of a couple of jokes -- and it was probably a good idea he helped him cut this one before he spoke in front of the president and dozens of other dignitaries.

Media reporter Jim Romenesko published the transcript of Kimmel's recent interview with Howard Stern on the shock jock's Sirius XM show, in which he said no one from the White House went over his material.

Kimmel did, however, decide to leave some out because they were too harsh.

You didn't want any abortion jokes? Stern asked.

People went like, uh-oh. I ran it by people who go to this thing.

One of those people was Tapper. I ran jokes by him, Kimmel told Stern. He's been there a lot of times. There are a few other people -- reporters.

Jake Tapper confirmed to Yahoo!'s Dylan Stableford on Wednesday that he tried to help Kimmel with the temperature of the room during his WHCA debut.

I thought that joke would cause the room to turn against him, perhaps even causing a stampede, with the Hilton getting in on the tar and feather concession, Tapper reportedly said in an e-mail. Seeking to spare him a Rich Little-like reception, I offered my suggestions -- such as they are -- as to which jokes might bomb.

At the time of the White House Correspondents' Association's annual star-studded Beltway affair, Gingrich was just days away from suspending his campaign. The show it to his kids remark was a reference to the time Santorum's son died shortly after birth they brought the body home to show their kids they had a brother, a story that got much speculation in the media.

Read the entire Howard Stern transcript here, in which Kimmel also talks about cutting the N word.