Cheboygan radio host lawsuit continues

[TC Talks]

Meanwhile, this dumpster fire continues...

The radio personality known as “Trucker Randy” in northern Michigan is facing a defamation suit from a businessman he accused of hiring undocumented workers, according to court records that entangle his wife, Antrim County’s clerk.

Randy Bishop, who’s known by many listeners as “Trucker Randy,” has been a longtime radio host with a show named “Your Defending Fathers.” It airs on the Cheboygan-based station WCHY-FM (97.7).

His political show, which he describes as having a Christian conservative focus, has frequently promoted election fraud theories and targeted Democrats and moderate Republicans. Voters chose his wife, Victoria Bishop, a Republican, to be Antrim County’s chief election official in the November 2024 election.

Thomas Moran, founder of Moran Iron Works in Onaway, sued Randy Bishop on Oct. 28, 2024, after Randy Bishop allegedly used his radio show to accuse Moran of “shipping in ... illegal immigrants,” according to court records.

Randy Bishop claimed, on his show, that Moran was running for the Onaway Area Schools Board of Education because he wanted his workers’ children “to be taught English because they only speak Spanish right now,” Moran’s lawyer, Sandra Jasinski, detailed in one court filing.

“I don’t lie, on this show or any time in my life,” Randy Bishop said during an Oct. 7, 2024, broadcast after Moran sought a retraction, according to court records.

Randy Bishop also said Moran was bringing in migrants because “he can’t find Americans to do the work,” according to court records. The immigrants were being flown in to the Alpena County airport, Bishop maintained.

Randy Bishop said Moran had talked about the issue during a Republican dinner in 2023.

In a letter dated Sept. 20, 2024, Jasinski demanded that Randy Bishop cease making false statements about Moran and publicly correct the ones he had previously made. All of Moran Iron Works’ employees were lawfully employed, Jasinski wrote.

“That Moran Iron Works may employ individuals who were born outside of the United States is not evidence that those individuals are employed in violation of the law,” Jasinski wrote to Bishop.

Moran Iron Works, a metal fabricator that builds barges and Mackinac Island ferry boats, has recruited workers from outside the United States but has complied with state and federal regulations in doing so, Jasinski wrote in a court filing against Bishop.

There was “nothing” in Moran’s 2023 speech at a Republican dinner that “remotely suggests Moran Iron Works hires illegal immigrants from Mexico or any other country,” Jasinski wrote in a Sept. 20, 2024, letter to Bishop.

Jasinski used the subject line “defamation” for the letter. She noted that Randy Bishop had said, on his show, that he was “just asking the question” about Moran.

[ChrisWL1980]

This is why I won't listen to 97.7 when I'm in the area, although I do like the (bird-fed) music format when they're playing music. He sounds like the "up north" version of WMUZ's nutjob Bob Dutko.

[EdWalker]

IIRC, Victoria Bishop owns WCHY through Michigan Broadcasters, LLC