CNN chief Jeff Zucker cozies up to Michael Cohen
The relationship between Jeff Zucker and Michael Cohen tells you a lot about how things actually work in media and politics.
CNN president Jeff Zucker oversees a network that has been nothing but hostile to President Trump, but newly revealed audio of a March 10, 2016 conversation with then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen shows Zucker attempting to cozy up to the then-Republican front-runner.
In the recording, obtained by "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Zucker boasted of the importance of his network, telling Cohen "you cannot be elected president of the United States without CNN."
"You guys have had great instincts, great guts and great understanding of everything," Zucker told Cohen. "But you're missing the boat on how it works going forward."
Later in the conversation, Zucker expressed hesitation about contacting Cohen by email while referring to Trump fondly as "the boss."
"I'm very conscious of not putting too much in email, as you're a lawyer, as you understand," Zucker is heard telling Cohen. "And, you know, as fond as I am of the boss, he also has a tendency, like, you know, if I call him or I email him, he then is capable of going out at his next rally and saying that we just talked and I can't have that, if you know what I'm saying."
He continued, "It's not that I don't want to talk to [Trump] every day. I've just got to be careful, because, I've just got to be careful ... I just don't want him talking about it on the campaign trail ... But you know what? I'm going to give him a call right now and I'm going wish him luck in the debate tonight."
Zucker was referring to that night's GOP primary debate, which CNN was hosting.
The CNN chief then floated potential post-election plans for Trump, who Zucker previously had worked with as the former CEO of NBC Universal at the height of the popularity of Trump's reality show "The Apprentice."
"I have all these proposals for him," Zucker told Cohen. "I want to do a weekly show with him and all this stuff."
Zucker went on to compliment Trump's debate performances, telling Cohen, "I think the other guys are going to gang up on him tremendously ... and I think he's going to hold his own, as he does every time. He's never lost a debate. And you know what? He's good at this ... He's going to do great."
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He also offered Cohen some debate advice for Trump, specifically how his rivals may attack the celebrity real estate mogul as a "conman."
"You know what you should do? Whoever's around him today should just be calling him a conman all day so he's used to it, so that when he hears it from [Marco] Rubio, it doesn't matter," Zucker said. "'Hey conman, hey conman, hey conman.' He thinks that's his name, you know?"
CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
Last week, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" unveiled a recording of a conversation between Cohen and CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who is heard denying apparent sexual misconduct allegations.
"Do you know how many f----- phone calls I've gotten from people at ABC who say that reporters are calling and lying about things they heard about me to try to get stories about me when I was at ABC?" Cuomo asks Cohen. "Guys calling and saying, 'I heard he's the Charlie Rose of ABC, used to invite women to the hotel and open up his bathrobe.' Do I look like the kind of f----- guy who's gotta do that?"
"Sure. Why not?" Cohen replied with a chuckle.
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After the Cuomo audio was made public, Cohen tweeted that the only people in possession of the audio recordings are the Department of Justice, President Trump, and himself.
“I did not give this recording or authorization for its use to @foxnews or anyone,” he said. “@POTUS and cronies violated my First amendment rights and now this; all to discredit me and my book. What’s next?”