There is a political conspiracy theory for any and everything under the sun these days (Ha! You believe in the Sun? Sheeple.) As the great AM radio continues its withdrawal from our cars – in many EVs, AM Radio is already gone the way of the buffalo – the conspiracy theories are beginning to ramp up. While some real people have concerns about letting go of the dying radio band, conservative media bad actors are running away with the ball. 

Are Democratic politicians ending AM radio to silence conservative radio? 

No.

Sean Hannity, a conservative media pundit with a long history of fear-mongering, claims Democrats are removing AM radios from cars – EVs specifically – to hurt the Republican agenda. His proof is that Republican talk radio is predominantly aired on AM stations. 

“I think people want more options, not less options. And this would be a direct hit politically on conservative talk radio in particular, which is what most people go to AM radio to listen to,” the host said on Fox News. “So, is there a political component to it? Certainly feels like it.” 

As The Drive keenly points out, even as Fox News pundits recently settled out of court on a nearly billion-dollar defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems, Hannity conveniently and tactically uses the word “feels” in his statement. This is key because there is no factual basis for this claim eliminating AM radio is a political attack. There simply aren’t facts to support it. However, there are real metrics to show why AM radio is leaving our cars. 

Why is AM radio getting pulled from our cars? 

There is a laundry list of reasons AM is getting pulled: AM radio has lower-quality audio than FM, it has had a dwindling listener base for years, and it has a potential for electromagnetic interference. Europe is also transitioning from AM to DAB, which limits the platform even further. Not to mention the availability of satellite and internet radio, smartphone-compatible infotainment systems, and rising Bluetooth popularity all contribute to the AM waves serving less and less function. 

These reasons are all real facts with substantiated data to prove the reasoning for AM radio going away.

When did AM radios get pulled?

According to The Drive, another fact that flies in the face of the Hannity conspiracy is that Porsche, Audi, Tesla, and Volvo already pulled AM radios from their EVs. Most of these companies pulled AM radio before the Trump administration, and some even during President Trump’s time in office. Hell, even Ford is pulling AM from the 2024 Ford Mustang because “countries and automakers globally are modernizing radio by offering internet streaming through mobile apps, FM, or digital,” not because Ford wants a liberal takeover of America. 

Losing AM radio could cause real problems though

As with most conspiracy theories buried behind the often racist and ignorant bulwark, there is a nugget of truth. The truth is, some real former government officials have warned that ditching AM could make it harder to warn Americans in the event of an emergency. This is particularly worrisome for rural citizens. As The Drive notes, this potential negative aspect of losing AM was brought up by Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey. Either this is just true, or Markey missed the memo at the secret New World Order meeting on Tuesday nights at the Golden Corral. 

Despite political lines, the facts are, AM radio is outdated, unpopular, and in the case of some EVs, is interfering with the cars’ performance. There could be a potential downside to axing the platform, but we know for sure the people claiming it will end our country’s sovereignty also happen to be some of the very few people who stand to lose money since their shows occupy the scantly populated medium. So, these facts force us to ask,” Is losing AM bad for America, or just bad for conservative radio pundits?”