Being pro-Trump has been ‘easy radio’ for conservative hosts like Jesse Kelly. Those days are ending.

Jesse Kelly, whose nightly show runs on more than 200 stations through Premiere Networks, is among the most influential voices in conservative radio, and he is openly preparing for a time when Donald Trump no longer commands the Republican party. Kelly, 45, says cheering for the president was once effortless programming because audiences demanded it, but he argues that no politician stays popular indefinitely and that Trump's second term is winding down, according to The Guardian.

With Republicans expected to fare badly in next month's midterms, hosts who profited from backing Trump face a choice about how much responsibility to assign him. Kelly has drawn notice for faulting the Iran war and the high gas prices that followed. He insists he is not anti-Trump, still spends most of his airtime attacking Democrats, and says he will praise or fault the president as warranted, since listeners would abandon a host they saw as insincere.

Michael Harrison, founder of Talkers magazine, describes the genre as a game of musical chairs in which hosts must balance personal conviction against ratings and advertising.

A Marine veteran who served in Iraq, Kelly nearly unseated Representative Gabrielle Giffords in an Arizona congressional race in 2010.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →