Three Florida Panhandle Radio Stations Will Barrage Listeners With Trump Clips Till 2020

By Sophie Weiner  |  May 15, 2019 | 4:15am
Media

Three Florida radio stations will play audio from Trump rallies every hour from now until the next presidential election, The Hill reports. Our apologies to anyone living in the panhandle! After all you’ve been through with Hurricane Michael, you don’t deserve this.

The stations, “Classic Rock WRBA-FM 95.9,” “Country WKNK-FM ‘Hank FM’” and “Adult Hits WASJ-FM ‘BOB FM,’” are owned by Gulf Coast Media Inc. The company announced in a press release on Tuesday that they’ll play audio excerpts from Trump rallies every single hour of the day until the 2020 election.

“People around the world think that Floridians are accustomed to getting battered by Hurricanes and have for the most part ignored the huge losses experienced by people in Panama City and Bay County,” the press release read. “People have forgotten about us and the community is so thankful that President Donald Trump made it crystal clear that he was here to help us.”

The decision seems to have been inspired by Trump’s visit to Panama City, FL earlier this month, when he promised to give the state $448 million for Hurricane Michael recovery efforts.

“The money is coming immediately. No games, no gimmicks, no delays,” Trump said. “We will never, ever leave your side.”

Gulf Coast Media Inc. is owned by Samuel Rogatinsky, who says locals are fine with non-stop Trump.

“We ran it by a bunch of listeners and people in the area, and nobody’s upset about it. It’s Republican territory,” Rogatinsky told The Orlando Sentinel. “Nobody’s offended by it. It’s not an issue.”

Rogatinsky says he might even play the Trump clips twice an hour. Sounds like hell!!

The company’s press release admitted that airing constant presidential speeches is a bit weird for radio. But it has to be done, apparently, in order to “show the community’s sincere appreciation for President Donald Trump’s work in Panama City and Bay County.”

“Really, we just want to have inspirational type things because the community is so down,” Rogatinsky told the Sentinel. “Nobody else is really promising or doing anything. They want to hear what he has to say.”

Attention 2020 Democratic candidates: get down to Florida now.

So, how will Rogatinsky’s idea work with FTC guidelines that require giving equal time to political candidates? Well, he says he’ll give airtime to anyone who asks for it.

“If anybody requests it, it won’t be an issue,” he told The Wrap.

 
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