CNN president: Airing so many full Trump rallies was a 'mistake'

CNN’s president says he regrets giving so much airtime to Donald TrumpDonald TrumpTrump wins Pennsylvania Toomey fends off Dem challenger in Pa. Senate race Mexican-American Dem flips Nevada House seat MORE and his rallies on the network early in the campaign season.

“If we made any mistake last year, it’s that we probably did put too many of his campaign rallies in those early months and let them run,” Jeff Zucker said at Harvard Kennedy School, according to BuzzFeed. “Listen, because you never knew what he would say, there was an attraction to put those on the air.”

Zucker, who was the president of NBC Entertainment when “The Apprentice” was first on TV said that even then Trump was a “publicity magnet.”

“Trump delivered on PR, he delivered on big ratings,” Zucker said.

Zucker denied that he helped secure coverage of Trump on CNN or that the network's constant coverage helped him clinch the Republican nomination.

He insisted that Trump would agree to do interviews with some of the other Republican candidates would not.

"Marco RubioMarco RubioJeb Bush congratulates Rubio on Senate win Charlie Crist wins Florida House seat Rubio wins reelection MORE and Jeb Bush went two months without agreeing to do an interview. That’s not Trump’s fault. That’s not CNN’s fault," he said.