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Donald Trump gave a speech at the National Religious Broadcasters Conference in Nashville on Thursday night that included all of his greatest hits. The Democrats are “evil”, the US is now a “communist state” and Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, is a “strong man” and “my friend”. But Christian broadcasters had a new element designed for their audiences: Trump pledged to save AM radio.
“I will protect content that is pro-God. We’re going to protect the pro-God … context and the content,” Trump said, initially appearing to misspell the words on his teleprompter in typical fashion.
“To that end, at the request of the NRB, I will do my part to protect AM radios in our cars. We love listening to AM radio because you know what we’re listening to. Millions of Americans love to listen to Christian broadcasters and you’re under siege,” Trump. Ongoing,
About 20 million people listen to religious radio each week, which can be found mostly on the AM band. And it’s a big problem for the future of Christian radio if car manufacturers stop providing AM functionality in their cars altogether. Volkswagen and Tesla no longer offer AM radios in their latest models and while Ford planned to remove AM reverse course After an outcry last year.
The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to create a rule requiring carmakers to put AM radios in their vehicles, was proposed last year but has not yet come up for a vote. The bill has bipartisan support, which is unusual in such a clearly divided Congress.
Representative Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, has tried to frame the existence of AM radio as a public safety issue, noting that AM stations helped deliver vital information after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Is. Gottheimer is also trying to embarrass Tesla and the company’s CEO Elon Musk for installing AM radios in cars.
“I think if Elon Musk has enough money to buy Twitter and send a rocket into space, he can afford to include an AM radio in his Tesla. Instead, Elon Musk and Tesla and other carmakers are endangering public safety and emergency response,” Gottheimer said in a press release. on his website,
Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, has tried to make a similar argument about public safety, though he has not attacked Musk, who views the right as an ideological ally.
“AM radio signals cover a much larger geographic area than FM radio signals or cell towers and continue to work during hurricanes, tornadoes or other severe weather events, when other communications are lost,” Cruz said in a press release. Networks can become unreliable and stop working.” from 2023,
And it’s clear that people like Cruz, a strong supporter of Trump, will help work with any potential future Trump administration to ensure that AM survives.
But Trump is extremely fickle and it will be interesting to see if he raises the AM issue in any future speech. Interestingly, Trump used several profanities in his speech Thursday night that would likely be a shock to most conservative Christian viewers. But undoubtedly, Trump gets a pass as a man who has scored numerous victories for his base, including overturning Roe v. Wade, which was the law of the land for 50 years.
Trump’s speech, available in its entirety youtube, in any other political era it would be remarkable how extreme this seemed. But after four years of Trump’s presidency, and another four years of Trump falsely claiming to win the 2020 election, it’s not really news when the former president finds it dangerous to talk about his political opponents. Use rhetoric.
Trump stressed in his speech Thursday that the greatest threat to the United States is not an external threat like Russia or China, but fellow Americans, whom he called “sick” people. And, believe it or not, there’s a good chance that Trump could win the 2024 presidential election this November. In fact, a recent survey from Morning Consult showed Trump ahead, with 45% of respondents choosing the likely Republican nominee. Only 41% people chose President Biden.
Whoever wins in November, it seems safe to say that AM radio will remain a political football for years to come. This is a security issue for many politicians. And it’s an existential crisis for Christian broadcasters who have used AM as a platform for decades.
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