Former CNN chief Jeff Zucker was confronted by CNN anchor Michael Smerconish in a conversation on media, telling him it was “partisan” not to give the Hunter Biden laptop scandal much airtime.
Zucker and Smerconish were joined by former MSNBC boss Phil Griffin for a talk on the state of the media at the Un Convention in Philadelphia.
The convention was billed as “an exploration of political reforms to improve our electoral systems and political ideas for governing a divided country”.
Smerconish grilled the two former bosses at one point over the Hunter Biden controversy, asking if they “regretted” the coverage — or lack thereof — they told the story.
CNN anchor Michael Smerconish grilled former CNN boss Jeff Zucker for lack of airtime on the Hunter Biden laptop controversy, saying it looked “partisan”.
Zucker, left, said he doesn’t disagree with Smerconish’s assessment but also argued the network didn’t have enough facts to accurately cover the scandal
The laptop, which Hunter Biden reportedly left at a Delaware repair shop, contained masses of incriminating images, videos and text, including extensive deals involving prostitutes
Biden, who constantly struggles with drug addiction, can often be seen nude in the videos and images found on the laptop
“I think the Hunter laptop was worth airing more than it got right before the election,” Smerconish said.
Zucker initially claimed that the network “didn’t know enough about it,” also saying that they “did some work on it… to the extent that you thought was appropriate.”
He went on to say he didn’t think it was a “legitimate criticism” before asking Smerconish to cover the story.
Smerconish said he “did talk about it extensively,” but also said Zucker was right that he himself hadn’t given the topic much time on the air.
“I think I look bad because I don’t talk about it at all. I should have said something about the damn problem,’ he said.
Smerconish then said that while he didn’t know all the facts, “I think we looked partial by not giving him some air,” to which Zucker replied, “I don’t disagree.”
He also asked Griffin about the scandal, to which Griffin replied, “He was never arrested. The Justice Department investigated it and never reported it until he is the son of a candidate. I don’t think it’s going to be a main story until that happens.’
The conversation then moved to the topic of former President Donald Trump, and Smerconish grilled sugar again about the coverage.
Smerconish asked Zucker if he had any regrets about “giving Trump as much air as you gave him in 2016.”
“Of course I do. I’ve publicly admitted that,” Zucker replied.
Phil Griffin, former president of MSNBC, was also asked about the Hunter Biden controversy, but responded he doesn’t think it will be a “main story” until Biden is arrested
Zucker had been president of CNN worldwide since 2013, before stepping down from his $6 million-a-year post for failing to disclose a consensual relationship with another CNN employee
Republicans have raised questions about Hunter’s dealings in Ukraine when his father was Barack Obama’s vice president, as well as his business in China, which is listed in a trove of emails found on a hard drive from a laptop he allegedly worked in left at a repair shop in Delaware.
Zucker, who resigned from the network after his affair with associate Allison Gollust was exposed, has seen a personnel turnover at his former network from new boss Chris Licht.
Light reportedly aims to shift the network away from opinion and toward hard news.
Zucker had been president of CNN worldwide since 2013 before stepping down from his $6 million-a-year post on February 2.
He admitted to employees that he broke the company’s code of conduct when he failed to disclose a “consensual relationship.”
Chris Licht has taken over the network and is trying to shake its reputation for bias
Zucker and Gollust, 49, have been working together for 20 years. They claim their relationship has turned romantic during the pandemic, but others say it’s well ahead of COVID.
Media sources said the affair had been an “open secret” for more than 10 years – and claimed even the bouncers at their Manhattan apartment building were trying to stop Allison and Zucker’s now ex-wife from interacting.
Both sugar and gollust are divorced. Zucker and his wife Caryn split in 2018 and Gollust reportedly split from her husband Billy around the same time, if not earlier.
Zucker and Gollust lived with their respective families in the same apartment building on the Upper East Side until Jeff sold his in 2020 after he and ex-wife Caryn Nathanson split.