Radio host quits after boss tells him not to criticize Trump on air

A Pennsylvania radio show host resigned over the weekend after he refused to stop criticizing President Donald Trump on the air.

Former WTPA-FM radio DJ Bruce Bond, who hosted "The Bruce Bond Late Afternoon Show" every Saturday for more than a decade, said station management "warned me a couple times about speaking against Trump" but he had "just ignored" those warnings," the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

According to Bond, station management warned him a third time last weekend, but this time, he "decided to take a stand."

Bond posted an image of the email he said he received from WTPA general manager Tim Michaels, which said:

This is to serve as notice that it is not permissible on WTPA airwaves to talk disrespectfully of the President. I have received backlash in the form of emails, phone calls and such. I have listeners threatening a boycotts of sponsors and social media campaigns against the station, I have spoken with several parties personally this week that are very angered and have discontinued listening to WTPA and are encouraging their friends to do the same. This cannot continue to happen. I have asked previously to cease political discussion. If this cannot be achieved we will have no choice but to discontinue the show.

Bond said he didn't want to be "walking on eggshells" every time the subject of Trump came up, PennLive reported. So for that reason, he is no longer with the station.

Michaels released a statement making clear that Bond was not technically fired for his political beliefs.

"Bruce resigned, we have accepted his resignation, and we wish him well," Michaels said, according to PennLive.

Bond had been with WTPA since 2003. Before that, he served a two-year prison sentence for check fraud. Bond first became a radio show host for WNNK-FM in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the 1980s, according to the Inquirer.

In a Facebook post Saturday, Bond said he "really hated" to quit his job at WTPA but that under those circumstances, he "could not continue being honest to my fans and listeners."

"I'm sorry that there is this really ugly political environment in this country with the current President. Unfortunately, Central [Pennsylvania] can't handle someone as liberal & brutally honest as I can be quite often. Thanks for understanding my side of this story," Bond said.