Talk Radio Host Says He Was Fired Mid-Show After Criticizing Trump
A talk show host from a conservative radio station in Denver says he was fired midway through his weekly broadcast after criticizing both President Donald Trump and the way station employees had covered the impeachment inquiry.
Craig Silverman, a former chief deputy district attorney in Denver, said he was discussing Trump and the president’s criminally indicted associates on 710 KNUS on Saturday when he was abruptly taken off the air.
“It was pretty startling,” Silverman said on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” on Sunday. “While I’m talking about the association of Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Roy Cohn, right as I was making my points about that, the show went dark, the program director came in and said, ‘You’re done.’”
Colorado lawyer Craig Silverman says he was cut off mid-show by the management for criticizing President Trump.
"I was frustrated that we couldn't talk about the facts of the impeachment case and it all came to a head as I was excoriating Donald Trump on my show yesterday." pic.twitter.com/uy4tn7r9By— Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) November 17, 2019
Silverman said the decision followed him criticizing his conservative colleagues for not discussing the ongoing impeachment hearings, which on Friday featured testimony from former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
“Marie Yovanovitch, she inspired me. She was an outstanding witness, but if nobody on radio talks about it, how are the American people going to understand?” he asked.
710 KNUS, which is owned by the conservative-leaning Salem Media Group, did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
In an email to CNN Business , Brian Taylor, KNUS vice president and general manager, denied that Silverman’s show was taken off the air because of his impeachment coverage. He instead said that it was because Silverman mentioned a recent appearance on a competing station, which Silverman had been told not to speak on.
“We asked Craig to avoid appearing there, since we consider him an important part of KNUS,” Taylor said in the email. “The notion that he was relieved of his program because he criticized President Trump is absolutely untrue. We have never told Mr. Silverman the position to take on Trump and impeachment.”
Silverman, who off the air works as a trial attorney, has said he is an “independent contractor” for the station.
Silverman, who has identified himself as an independent who voted for Trump, posted on Twitter after his alleged firing to say that he won’t let censoring stop him and will continue to “call things as I see them.”
“I see corruption and blatant dishonesty by [Trump] and his cronies. I also see bullying/smearing of American heroes w/ courage to take (an) oath and tell truth,” he tweeted.
Silverman said he is confident he’ll find another forum to continue his talk show.
This story has been updated with a response from a KNUS representative.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
