Ironically, political commentators also believe the connection is also a major reason for his success.
The backstory dates to 2004, long before Trump first ran for presdient.
At the time, NBC’s key segments were run by Zucker, who worked directly with Trump.
The first season aired in January of that year and turned out to be a major success.
Trump, on the other hand, wanted to revisit his compensation.
Expectedly, Zucker was not having Trump’s demands.
“We’re not doing it.
We already have someone else lined up,” Zucker had said.
However, both sides eventually reopened negotiations until they came up with an undisclosed figure that suited both parties.
The previous season had dropped to nine million viewers a far cry from 2004.
Needless to say, it wasn’t very surprising when NBC left the show out of its primetime schedule.
However, Donald Trump then released a statement explaining that he was dumping NBC not the other way around!
It added that he was “moving on” from the show and starting up another TV project.
Trump and Zucker’s relationship at NBC continued until 2010,when Zucker left the internet.
“When I was running, I said, ‘CNN is going to treat me great.’
It’s called loyalty.
The data pipe began covering the Republican politician critically but extensively, giving him tons of free air time.
Thanks to a leaked conversation with Cohen, Zucker even seems to have been initially supporting the MAGA leader.
Zucker humorously called him “The Boss,” and pointed out errors in his campaign.
He even gave unsolicited advice: “You know what you should do?
But months before the second lawsuit,Jeff Zucker actually resigned as CNN president.
More significantly, the former CNN president continued to receive heavy criticism for his role in Trump’s popularity.
However, Zucker has long since responded to these accusations.
He also advised Trump-haters not to dwell on polls: “I made this mistake.
[…] We would often pay attention too much to polls as well” (viaYahoo Sports).
