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

CNN’s president says he regrets giving so much airtime to Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpHouse Democrat slams Donald Trump Jr. for ‘serious case of amnesia’ after testimony Skier Lindsey Vonn: I don’t want to represent Trump at Olympics Poll: 4 in 10 Republicans think senior Trump advisers had improper dealings with Russia 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 Antonio RubioRyan pledges 'entitlement reform' in 2018 Richard Gere welcomes lawmakers' words of support for Tibet Dem lawmaker gives McConnell's tax reform op-ed a failing grade 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.