President Donald Trump confronted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) during a radio interview, putting him on the spot about a piece of legislation that appears to have been on the back burner for a while.
“You’ve got — we’ve got an AM radio law up on the hill there, I think Steve Scalise doesn’t like the bill,” said Hewitt. “Maybe you can break the speaker around a little bit.”
Trump agreed. “You know, AM is the home of Rush … remember when he used to say Barack Hussein, he’d scream the word, Hussein. You know, a lot of our people are on AM radio. The answer is very much, I’ll do it. We’re pushing it hard. Mr. Speaker?”
Johnson appeared a bit taken aback, but tried to answer affirmatively that he would work to pass the bill.
“I love Hugh Hewitt. And Hugh, I used to be a broadcaster on AM radio,” he said. “So I’m with you, buddy.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker!” said Hewitt.
Hewitt and Trump were likely referring to H.R. 979, the AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act, which would prohibit automakers from phasing out AM radio compatibility in their new cars. Similar legislation exists in the Senate.
Ostensibly, the legislation is about safety, citing that drivers in rural areas rely on AM radio for emergency alerts; however, as Trump alluded to, another motivation for Republicans appears to be that AM talk radio has been one of their most successful media for reaching and persuading voters.
Hewitt asked Johnson if he could get Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) to sponsor the bill, which he argued could help it move through Congress more quickly.
Trump described Scalise as a “great guy” before asking Johnson to “work on him.”
“He’s a great guy. Yes, we’ll be working on him,” Johnson replied.
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