Donald Trump likely benefited from free airtime in the 2016 presidential election, data shows, and that’s exactly what one Florida radio station owner is hoping to dangle for attention. Three Panhandle radio stations are broadcasting snippets of the president’s speeches every hour until the end of the 2020 presidential election as a way to support his re-election and remind him of his promise to rebuild the area following Hurricane Michael’s destruction, the stations’ owner said. “We’re supporting him and hoping that he’ll do just as he says he’s going to do,” owner Samuel Rogatinsky told HuffPost.

ASSOCIATED PRESS President Donald Trump is seen attending a rally in Panama City Beach on May 8. The area continues to struggle to recover from Hurricane Michael last year.

The three stations ― adult hits station Bob FM on 105.1 WASJ, country music station Kick’n Country on 103.5 WKNK and classic rock station 95.9 WRBA ― are all operated by the new company Gulf Coast Media Inc. and cover Bay County, Florida. Seventy-one percent of voters in Bay County voted for Trump in the 2016 election. This area was devastated last year by the Category 5 storm, which caused an estimated $25 billion in damage. Large areas of the Panhandle are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Michael. This has prompted Rogatinsky, who also has a law office in Fort Lauderdale, to fear that the area has been “forgotten.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS A boarded-up housing development sits damaged from Hurricane Michael in Panama City, Florida, in January. FEMA has said $1.1 billion in federal disaster aid has been given to the Panhandle through mid-April.

“People really forgot about Bay County. Maybe people don’t consider it a sexy location or don’t know too much about it but I go back and forth all the time and I can tell you ... they’re not getting real money, for some reason. It’s like a forgotten city, a forgotten county,” he said. “The area really needs help.” Trump visited the area last week and vowed during a rally for his re-election to pump up federal aid to the region. “We’ve already given you billions and billions of dollars and there’s a lot more coming,” Trump told a crowd gathered in Panama City Beach on Wednesday. The Panhandle has received about $1.1 billion in federal disaster aid through mid-April, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Bay County, which has an annual budget of $340 million, meanwhile is still waiting to be reimbursed for $250 million in loans that were used to cover debris removal alone, the Tampa Bay Times reported last week.

ASSOCIATED PRESS An excavator tears down a damaged home from Hurricane Michael in Panama City, Florida, in January. The area suffered an estimated $25 billion in damage.

Rogatinsky said it was Trump’s federal aid promise and the number of people who attended his campaign rally that inspired the hourly broadcasts. “We were just overwhelmed by how many people showed up for his speech. It was standing room only, so that gave us the idea,” Rogatinsky said. “We are taking valuable airtime and lobbying him to please figure out a way so that Panama City Beach and Bay County can get the [money they need].” The hourly broadcasts will vary in length and be positive messages that are meant to inspire, he said. “We’re trying to find specific things ... specific things related to Panama City,” he said of the subject matter for the snippets. “Nobody’s upset about it. It’s Republican territory,” Rogatinsky told the Orlando Sentinel. Gulf Coast Media, in a statement announcing its plans, noted its intent to show gratitude for Trump. “Gulf Coast Media, Inc. senior management acknowledged that broadcasting the President’s speeches may not be consistent with conventional commercial FM radio, but we have taken this approach to show the community’s sincere appreciation for President Donald Trump’s work in Panama City and Bay County,” the company said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS The idea to broadcast hourly messages from President Trump came from the number of people who attended his rally in Panama City Beach last week, the radio stations' owner said.