CNN chief Jeff Zucker may have to eat crow after blasting Fox News as a bullhorn for the White House. Unconvinced pundits have noted that the media executive gave Donald Trump a huge platform by enlisting him for ‘The Apprentice.’

Speaking at the South by Southwest Festival on Saturday, Zucker argued that the Democratic National Committee is under no obligation to allow Fox to host a presidential primary debate – describing the rival network as a mouthpiece for the Trump administration.

“I think the question should be, is Fox state-run TV or is the White House state-run government by Fox TV?” he mused, characterizing Fox as a “propaganda network” that enjoys a “completely symbiotic” relationship with the White House.

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His jab at Fox didn’t sit well with commentators, however. Zucker, many argued, wasn’t in a position to chide others for providing a platform for Donald Trump.

“Fox is a horrible blight on democracy… But let’s not discount Zucker’s role in building Trump. Zucker was behind The Apprentice. Zucker/CNN gave Trump ridiculous airtime in 2016,” wrote businessman Rakesh Agrawal.

Fox is a horrible blight on democracy. Hannity has more control over policy than most in government (e.g. intelligence agcys.) But let's not discount Zucker's role in building Trump. Zucker was behind the Apprentice. Zucker/CNN gave Trump ridiculous airtime in 2016. @brianstelterhttps://t.co/R9Vy7GZWvT — Rakesh Agrawal (@rakeshlobster) March 10, 2019

As the former president of NBC, Zucker was responsible for signing Trump for the hit reality show ‘The Apprentice’ – seen by many as the springboard which made his rapid rise in politics possible.

Others argued that Zucker and CNN have been equally damaging to America’s political discourse.

Jeff Zucker isn’t wrong about FOX but he is also responsible for a lot of the damage done to the media’s rep and political discourse https://t.co/eicD4VT2tr — Aléx Young (@AlexYoung) March 10, 2019

jeff zucker's comments about fox news are just more phony wwe-style posturing. cnn has almost as many trump apologists in the pundit rotation as fox. its all a joke. a rigged game meant to fool and lie to the the audience. — Oliver Willis (@owillis) March 10, 2019

This isn’t the first time CNN’s president has taken aim at Fox. In comments made last year, Zucker attacked the network as a “propaganda machine” that “does a disservice to the country.”

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