President Trump pitched a talk radio show from the White House that would have allowed him to answer people’s questions about the coronavirus crisis directly.
The president proposed the radio show during a Situation Room meeting with the White House coronavirus task force in March, according to the New York Times. He said the show would allow him to calm the public’s fears and that the calls would not be screened.
However, Trump later said he would not move ahead with the proposal because he did not want to compete with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. Some in the room suggested hosting the show in the mornings or on weekends so it would not overlap with Limbaugh’s show, but the president disagreed, saying he wanted his show to be two hours a day every day.
One official involved in the discussion told the New York Times that Trump had previously mentioned hosting a radio show from the White House, but the thought of competing against Limbaugh swayed him against doing so.
The Rush Limbaugh Show brings in more than 15 million listeners a week, making it the most popular talk radio show in the country. Limbaugh has been a staunch supporter of the president and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during Trump’s State of the Union address in February.
