Tune into 92.1 WTPA-FM in Central Pennsylvania and you'll hear the classics. Mellencamp's "Small Town," The Wallflowers' "One Headlight," a commercial for nearby Hershey Park, or, fittingly this morning, Boston's "Don't Look Back." What you won't hear is anything negative about President Trump. Or, for the first time in three years, as of this Saturday, the voice of Bruce Bond.

Bond, a staple on Pennsylvania radio since the late-'70s, announced on Saturday that he'd be leaving the station due to pressure from management to stop criticizing the president. In a post on Facebook, Bond shared an email he'd received from the station's general manager Tim Michaels which read, in part, "This is to serve as notice that it is not permissible on WTPA airwaves to talk disrespectfully of the President."

A bio page for Bond on the station notes that "Bruce has a long history of being one of the most talked about personalities in local radio." That's perhaps truer than ever this week, as Bond's story has been making the rounds. But the well-decorated radio personality—including a Marconi award for Medium Market Personality of the Year, 1996—is no stranger to controversy. Many of his stunts and pranks have landed him in hot water, or resulted in fines or firings. Most notably, in 2008, he was sent to prison for two years for his role in a forged check scheme.

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Bond says his decision to leave the station was the culmination of a year of unease that began around the time it was clear Donald Trump would become the Republican nominee for president. His show, he says, wasn't even overtly political in nature.

"I labeled it as fun talk radio, and I would read a bunch of internet stuff, the New York Post and the Daily News, and pull out the interesting things. Just, stupid people doing stupid things. Some celebrity stuff."

Naturally, Trump would come up from time to time, because, well: Trump.

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"I wouldn't go in there with my agenda set to do politics. Politics is something on Saturday morning I'm pretty much tired of talking about or listening to. But there would be funny things Trump did that week, or maybe there'd be something I was pissed about and I'd express my opinion. Who doesn't do that these days, right?"

Bond's broadcasts were reportedly not wonky, but rather poked fun here and there at the eminently mockable president's occasional blunders. A sound bite of Trump talking about eating "the most beautiful chocolate cake" around the time of the Syrian airstrikes was an effect on one show.

"There would be funny things Trump did that week, or maybe there'd be something I was pissed about and I'd express my opinion. Who doesn't do that these days, right?"

"That, to me, is the funny stuff," he says. "It's stupid, but that constitutes fun talk radio doing that sort of thing."

In the past, Bond would poke fun at Obama—although he was a fan so it didn't have quite the edge—gags like playing a clip of Jim Gaffigan saying ,"Thanks, Obama!" Although management never had any problems with that.

In 2016, everyone at the station got a memo saying, essentially, don't talk about politics, Bond says.

"I understood that. But I thought this was going to be very difficult for me, and I'm sure they understand that as well. They hired me as a talk show host," he says. He played a disclaimer on the show for a while saying, "If I'm talking about something you don't like, tune out, the music will be back at noon," which seemed to calm things down for a while. Until recently. A handful of emails from management followed, leading up to the one he posted this weekend.

"I said 'Ok, I can't go on. I do brutal honesty. I'm not a BS-er on the radio.'"

We reached out to the station for comment:

"Bruce was hired to do an entertainment-based show," GM Tim Michaels explained in an email to Esquire. "He was cautioned about making it political in nature many times. Bruce declined to take our direction and resigned. WTPA does not promote any political party or agenda on our air. We have listeners of all political affiliations and do not chose to alienate anyone."

The station's owner, Pat Garrett, however, is a big Trump supporter. Garrett, the owner of a sheepskin business, whose billboards can be seen all over I-78, even released a country music song in support of then candidate Trump last year.

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Nonetheless, the occasional jab at the president apparently did not sit right with the largely conservative-leaning listeners in Central Pennsylvania. A handful of them posting on Bond's Facebook page seemed to be the chief agitators, he says, threatening boycotts, and emailing the station.

"These right wing whackos can't turn the station, they just want to have it cease totally, so they do whatever they can to try and get me off the radio," Bond says. "I don't think they contacted any advertisers, I think they just like to make threats.'

It's a curious time for the country indeed, he posits.

"There's a big separation out there. The talk show I was on in Philly today, right before they had me on, they were saying people were at a U2 concert, and I guess Bono said something negative against Trump and a bunch of people walked out. Then there's Yuengling beer, who was backing Trump, and now people won't buy Yuengling. There's a weird thing going on out there. It's almost like a civil war of some sort. You're either on this side or that side, and if you mention that side I'm not going to buy this or that product."

There's a simple solution, Bond thinks.

"I'm a talk show host. I'm not selling something other than me. If you don't like my talk, then why are you listening? Move on." For now, it's Bond who has moved on.

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