In response to angry callers, a first in 27 years for Michael Smerconish

During the 2016 president campaign, Donald Trump famously said that he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and "shoot somebody," and he would not lose any voters.

He may have been right.

Earlier this week, Sirius XM radio host and Inquirer columnist Michael Smerconish began his show with last week's bombshell New York Times report, which detailed a now-famous meeting between top members of Trump's president campaign and a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton.

Smerconish believed it was a significant story, which the former lawyer said on his Saturday CNN program "at a minimum" showed Donald Trump Jr., former campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were "game to collude with the Russians."

"Who could have imagined there would actually be an email to someone named Trump offering "very high level and sensitive information" able to "incriminate Hillary" as part of "Russia and its government's support" of Trump over Hillary?" Smerconish wrote in his weekly column for the Inquirer.

But many of his callers thought otherwise.

"I thought you were better than this," argued Brad from Minnesota. "Keep kicking that dead dog, Michael, maybe it'll wake up… Who cares about dirt on that old hag Hillary."

Smerconish is certainly used to callers disagreeing with his opinions, considering his show generally features a wide-array of opinions coming in from across the country. But the veteran host was surprised when the very next caller echoed the comments of the first.

"With the media, the Justice Department, the DNC, and the Trump administration, the Trump administration is the least corrupt among all four entities," railed Raphael from Vermont.

After the call ended, Smerconish says he scanned his caller board to discover another caller from Vermont wanting to attack the media and support Trump.

"CNN, New York Post, New York Times – these guys they have zero ounce of credibility. I say zero… negative zero. They're just horrible," said Chris from Vermont. "All they do is treat Trump as a punching back."

After speaking with the third caller, Smerconish said he decided to do something he'd never done in 27 years of hosting radio shows – he asked his producer to clear the board of all callers who wanted to criticize the president and his son, and only put through the calls of Trump supporters.

"The results were eye and ear opening," Smerconish said. "These voices were clearly a revelation to many who don't typically hear them on their go-to news outlets."

Smerconish was so taken aback by the opinions coming from his callers that he posted them in a Facebook video that has garnered more than 145,000 views (warning: NSFW language).

"I'm just tired of hearing about the bank robbery a year later," complained Brad from Illinois. "Some of the media outlets get so in the weeds with some of these stories that it just disinterests me after a little while."

"So at this point it just seems like a witch hunt after President Trump," said Doug from Ohio.

"The only thing I'm angry about Trump is that he hasn't arrested that witch yet. She should be in cuffs. " said Mark from Massachusetts, turning his comments towards Smerconish himself.

"You're an establishment a—hole, that's all you are," Mark from Massachusetts said of Smerconish.

Smerconish said the callers, who were "really informative," offered some insight into Trump's relatively unshakeable support among a hardcore Republican base that pushed him through the primaries and ultimately helped elect him president.

"If you think the Donald Trump Jr. story is the one that changes Trump supporters' mind, you might want to think again," Smerconish said.