Michael Smerconish

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Michael Smerconish (born 1962) is a Philadelphia-based radio host who broadcasts on WPHT 1210 AM from 5:30 a.m. until 9 a.m., Monday through Friday. Smerconish has substituted for Bill O'Reilly on The Radio Factor, Glenn Beck on his CNN Headline News television program, and for Joe Scarborough on his former MSNBC show Scarborough Country. He also has a regular column in the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Smerconish is a graduate of Lehigh University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is of Yugoslav descent and married to Realtor Lavinia Smerconish.

Smerconish is an outspoken critic of political correctness and has written two books on the subject:

Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11 (2004)
Muzzled: From T-Ball to Terrorism - True Stories That Should Be Fiction (2006)
Murdered by Mumia - about Murdered Philadelphia Police Officer, Daniel Faulkner.^[1]

A simulcast of Smerconish's show aired on WPHT and MSNBC during the week of April 23-April 27, 2007. He broadcasted live from the MSNBC studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. The simulcast replaced Imus in the Morning on a trial basis.^[2] The program was originally intended to be a three-day trial from April 23 to 25 but was extended for the full week after the April 23 broadcast. In-studio guests included Jon Anderson of the musical group Yes, Barack Obama, and former New York city mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Smerconish stated during his stint that he would stay on MSNBC "as long as they will have me." He said several days after the simulcast that he "wanted the call" to get the position permanently, but he wasn't expecting to land the position (he predicted David Gregory would get the job). If an offer had come, he stated he wasn't sure he would accept it, given he would have to travel to MSNBC's studios outside New York City.^[3] The MSNBC job instead went to Joe Scarborough, whose evening program Scarborough Country was retooled for the morning as Morning Joe.