A Sheridan political radio host will fulfill a long-held professional goal when he hosts former President Donald Trump on his show in the coming weeks.
“I was honestly pretty overwhelmed when I found out at first,” said Jeff Wallack, host of Wyoming Is Right Conservative Talk Radio.
Wallack will record his 15-minute interview with Trump on Jan. 10 before airing Jan. 14. The interview will be available for streaming online after that first broadcast.
He said there are no outlined parameters for the discussion.
“I expect it to be an open interview,” Wallack said. “I doubt we’ll have a lot of time, so I’ll let him to do most of the talking.”
Wallack hosts his conservative talk radio show on KIX 96.5, a Big Horn Mountain Radio station, weekly at 8 a.m. Saturday mornings.
He makes no bones about his political bias and his target audience.
“I’m certainly pro-Trump and it’s a show for his supporters that feel the same,” Wallack said.
‘Trump’s Show’
Wallack said the episode featuring the interview will be referred to as “Trump’s Show,” and he plans to ask the former president some intriguing questions about the First Amendment and election security.
More specifically, Wallack wants to know how Trump feels about his chances of being elected in the future given the claims he made about the 2020 election being rigged.
“I want to know how he thinks is best to protect the election to ensure integrity,” Wallack said. “We’ll see how he answers that and what the plans are.”
Expects ‘Friendly’ Conversation
Wallack said he also plans to ask questions about Wyoming-specific issues such as energy and federal land leasing. He said he won’t be surprised if Trump runs over his allotted time.
Wallack said he was asked to send a preview of questions he will be asking Trump the day before the show. He expects the conservation to be “friendly” like other interviews he conducts on his show, which he said are done to inform his audience about conservative politics in Wyoming.
“I’m not a reporter or a journalist,” Wallack said. “I’m an advocate for conservative politics and policies.”
Wallack will be the second Wyoming radio host to have a Trump interview in the past year. Glenn Woods hosted him in May.
But Wallack said Trump’s appearance on his show will be an absolute feather in his cap as he said the 45th president rarely does local media interviews.
Wyoming supported Trump with a larger margin of victory than any other state in 2020. Wallack said he doesn’t want Trump to forget about this support.
“It’s very important that Trump is speaking to Wyoming,” Wallack said. “Even though we’re a small state, he has strong supporters here.”
Background
Wallack said he didn’t have too much hope he would get Trump on his show when he made a “longshot pitch” through his political connections about six weeks prior before getting the confirmation.
“And it worked out,” Wallack said. “I really didn’t think it would.”
Wallack isn’t sure how he’ll top getting Trump on his show, but said he hopes to host other 2024 Republican nominees for president.
Wallack has supported Trump since his 2016 campaign and backed him again in 2020.
Others On The Radar
For now, he is still a Trump supporter, but said he is keeping an open mind because there is a lot of time before the next election.
Wallack mentioned potential candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott as catching his attention.
“Like all conservatives, we have time,” Wallack said.
But he finds Trump to be the “odds-on” favorite for the Republican nomination because of his previous standing as president.
“I think he’s a great candidate,” Wallack said. “He’s absolutely a conservative, as I am. He stays focused on the policies he will make America great again.”
Relatively New To Wyoming
Wallack started his show in April and has since hosted 32 episodes ranging in length from 25-30 minutes long, hosting state and nationwide Republican political figures.
On one recent show he had U.S. Rep.-elect Harriet Hageman as a guest, who also was his inaugural interview.
Wallack moved to Wyoming two years ago from Illinois. Prior to 2006, Wallack lived in California and was extensively involved in politics there at the state capitol in Sacramento.
He said he has no plans to leave Wyoming.
“Politics is my passion, that’s why I did this show,” he said.
Wallack, who also is the Wyoming Realtors federal political liaison for Hageman, will attend the Republican National Committee winter meeting in California in late January.
