CNN chief Jeff Zucker gets a larger role at AT&T while his battles with Trump rage on
At the South by Southwest festival in March, CNN chief Jeff Zucker was presented with a question he's been hearing since President Trump's stunning White House win in 2016.
"Do you have any regrets about giving Donald Trump so much coverage during the election?" said a college student, who described himself as an avid viewer of the news channel.
"OK, next question," Zucker quipped. But after getting a laugh from a crowd gathered on the patio of an Austin, Texas bar, the veteran news executive acknowledged that "we made some mistakes" when airing Trump rallies live and unedited during the campaign. But he maintains it was not the reason Trump won.
Zucker, 54, has faced far harsher criticism from the president, who riles up his supporters by citing CNN when he riffs on the media being "the enemy of the people." CNN anchors and reporters get visits from the FBI to deal with threats, and security around them has been stepped up.
Although Zucker has become a polarizing public figure in a hyper-partisan nation, he has pleased one important constituency - CNN's new parent AT&T. After
