During the 2016 presidential election campaign, a large focus was placed upon on-air debates between partisan pundits surrounding issues relating to the candidates (including, in particular, Republican candidate Donald Trump). In an interview with "The New York Times", Zucker stated that aspects of its election coverage were influenced by sports channels (with the "Times" citing, specifically, debates between pundits reminiscent of shows such as ESPN's "First Take", and large outdoor "pre-game" shows for the presidential debates), explaining that "the idea that politics is sport is undeniable, and we understood that and approached it that way." In 2016, CNN reached a monthly average of 105 million unique visitors to its web and mobile properties.