Media personalities and pundits on both sides of the aisle reacted to the news of former CNN President Jeff Zucker’s sudden resignation Wednesday.
Zucker disclosed a consensual relationship with chief spokesperson Allison Gollust who also served as an aide for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2012.
“I came to CNN on January 28, 2013,” Zucker said in an internal memo tweeted out by CNN anchor Brian Stelter. “Together, we had nine great years. I certainly wish my tenure had ended differently. But It was an amazing run, and I loved every minute of it.”
Washington Post opinion writer Jennifer Rubin called the situation a “total mess” and expressed sympathy for the quality news people at the network.
“He (Zucker) botched Cuomo and helped put Trump on the map, good riddance,” Rubin added.
Zucker said the findings that led to his resignation were part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure.
“I acknowledge the relationship evolved in recent years,” he said. “I was required to disclose it when it began, but I didn’t. I was wrong. As a result, I am resigning today.”
Nationally syndicated radio host and Outkick founder Clay Travis said it was Zucker who banned him from the network.
“It was Zucker who instituted my lifetime ban on CNN for saying I believed in the first amendment and b–bs. Oh, the irony,” Travis tweeted.
“The View’s” Ana Navarro-Cárdenas, who also appears on CNN, said she was grateful for the time she spent working with Zucker.
“Grateful that during merger w/ATT, which required government approval, when Trump people pressured #JeffZucker to fire me & other Trump critics, he basically told them to f–k off,” she tweeted.
“He steadfastly defended CNN & had his people’s back, even when it was hard & brought consequences.”
VOX Senior Correspondent Ian Millhiser tweeted that Zucker did a “horrible job” running the network.
“Its ratings are in the toilet,” he tweeted. “And I have no idea who they view as their target audience, or even if it has occurred to them to target a particular audience.”
Political commentator Keith Olbermann torched Zucker in a series of tweets. He said anybody who knew Zucker knew he was involved with Gollust long before the pandemic started.
According to the New York Post, Gollust released a statement shortly after saying that she and Zucker had been professional colleagues for over 20 years, but their relationship “changed during COVID.”
“While most observers will place the leak that ended Jeff Zucker’s career at the feet of a vengeful Andrew Cuomo, the weird part is anybody who knew Zucker knew about Allison Gollust. I first figured it out in 2006 or 2007,” Olbermann tweeted.
“Now is a chance to put Fake News in the backseat because there may not be anything more important than straightening out the horrendous LameStream Media in our Country, and in the case of CNN, throughout the World,” Former President Donald Trump said.
