Tributes pour in for the late Rush Limbaugh, beloved American patriot



Rush Limbaugh, the founding father of conservative talk radio, died Wednesday after losing his battle with stage 4 lung cancer. He was 70. His wife, Kathryn, made the tragic announcement on his radio show, which was dedicated to celebrating his legacy.

Immediately following the news of Limbaugh's passing, conservatives who were inspired, entertained, and educated by his radio program, many of whom would not have their careers were it not for the trail he blazed, offered their tributes to the uncontested greatest conservative radio host of all time.

"God Bless you Rush. I love you. Always and ever," said Bo Snerdley, aka James Golden, Limbaugh's longtime call screener, producer, and program engineer.

BlazeTV host and conservative radio host Mark Levin eulogized Limbaugh on Fox News, remarking that he made it "cool to be a patriot."

Levin, who at the beginning of his radio career was a frequent guest on Limbaugh's radio program and was a close friend, said, "We lost a tremendous patriot."

"I've known Rush for 25 years. I want your audience to know how much he profoundly loved them," he told Fox News host Harris Faulkner. "An incredibly wise man, a very, very smart man. A dear person. If you thought somebody needed help, he would help them. Nothing like what the liberal media has tried to do to him."

Levin said Limbaugh should be remembered as "a tremendous patriot of this country who refused to accept the attacks that came against this country from within. He refused to accept the ideological changes in this country. He defended the traditions of this country, and he spoke for tens of millions of us and, you know, I've met a lot of smart people in my life, dealt with a lot of smart people, never smarter than Rush, never wiser, and never kinder."

Radio and Fox News host Sean Hannity also called in to Fox News, acknowledging that "there's no Fox News or even some of these other opinionated cable networks" without Rush Limbaugh.

"There is no talk radio as we know it without Rush Limbaugh... There's no Fox News or even some of these other opin… https://t.co/3mhh4OmiNy
— Washington Examiner (@Washington Examiner)1613585662.0

Other stars in conservative media shared similar feelings about Limbaugh.

"No words ... I just got news the Rush Limbaugh has passed away. Thanks Rush for all you taught, gave and were," said BlazeTV host Glenn Beck. "A hero to many. An icon. A patriot. A revolutionary that saved radio. Heaven's gain, our loss."

"No conservative would have a voice on ANY platform today if not for Rush Limbaugh," said BlazeTV host Steven Crowder. "The world is a sadder place with him not in it."

"RIP Rush Limbaugh, the creator of talk radio and by extension the alternative media, an indispensable and iconic conservative voice," Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro tweeted.

"None of us, NONE OF US, would exist in conservative media without his success," said BlazeTV host Steve Deace. "We all owe him a massive debt of gratitude. He leaves behind an unmatched legacy. Prayers to my friend @DavidLimbaugh for his loss."

"RIP. More than any single person, Rush Limbaugh helped break the left's monopoly in the media," observed Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume. "The left is still dominant, but not to the extent it was before he came along. He waged a brave struggle against deafness and later, the cancer that killed him. He was a giant."

"The legacy of Rush Limbaugh is clear: the most successful radio broadcaster in history," said former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. "Mr. Limbaugh provided a conservative balance against the dangerous left wing corporate media machine. History counts few entertainers among those who made a difference in the country. Rush Limbaugh did."

"Rush Limbaugh had unrelenting boldness to proclaim the truth. Watching his wit, passion, and willingness to hold the media accountable informed my entire career," former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a tweet thread offering a longer tribute to Limbaugh. "Growing up in Plant City, Florida, my dad would always play the Rush Limbaugh program in his pick-up truck. My fellow classmates from my all girls Catholic school knew if they [rode] in my car, we would be listening to Rush Limbaugh.

"I am the definition of a 'Rush Baby,' and it's not just me. There are tens of thousands of us all across the conservative movement. He has built a legacy that will endure for many generations to come and will continue to inform our country.

"Thank you, Rush, for all you have done for this nation. The United States of America is better because of you," McEnany concluded.

Several Republican politicians, including two former presidents, expressed their admiration for Rush and their condolences for his family.

"He was a fantastic man, a fantastic talent. People, whether they loved or hated him, respected him," said former President Donald Trump on Fox News Wednesday.

"Laura and I are sorry to learn that Rush Limbaugh has passed away," former President George W. Bush said in a statement. "A son of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Rush rose as a pioneer of talk radio starting in the 1980s, and was a friend throughout my Presidency. While he was brash, at times controversial, and always opinionated, he spoke his mind as a voice for millions of Americans and approached each day with gusto."

Former President George W Bush on Limbaugh death: https://t.co/xRPQXJEXOw
— Meridith McGraw (@Meridith McGraw)1613585227.0

"Rush Limbaugh revolutionized American radio. His voice guided the conservative movement for millions every day," said Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). "Rest In Peace, Rush."

"Rush was a voice for forgotten Americans long before the internet gave us a voice. His was a voice that helped shape our thinking; but more than that, it reminded us to stay the course. I am saddened that I will never hear that voice again," said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).

"He was, like all of us, imperfect; but he was unapologetic and unafraid to advance the cause of freedom and limited government. He stood strong when so many others turned tail and ran away from the fight. He leaves behind an army of freedom-loving Americans who are more-ready and better-prepared to defend this great Republic as a direct result of his life's work."

"A proud son of Missouri, Rush Limbaugh was a voice for the voiceless," said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). "He changed talk radio, but more importantly, Rush changed the conversation to speak up for the forgotten, and challenge the establishment. He lived the First Amendment and told hard truths."

"Rush Limbaugh was a giant," said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). "With his straightforward, simple articulation of conservatism, he inspired millions. He was one-of-a-kind and he will be missed."

"Rush Limbaugh was an inspiring and important voice for the conservative movement. He will be missed dearly. My sincere condolences to the Limbaugh family," said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

Conservative radio host Erick Erickson wrote a tribute to Rush that concluded:

Rush Limbaugh was the best and will perpetually be the gold standard by which everyone else in talk radio is measured.

There's a public caricature of Rush Limbaugh that exists formed by those jealous of his success and contemptuous of his views. Then there is the Rush Limbaugh — a friend, a mentor, and now the man who gets to personally deliver back his talent to the God of all [creation] who, yes, Rush knew, loved, and served.

Rush Limbaugh's radio show drew an estimated 43 million listeners over its three-hour runtime. Many, many more people who listened to Limbaugh regularly or were impacted by his work offered their own tributes to Rush, too many to report.

Throughout his life, and here at the end, Rush Limbaugh was loved. And he is missed.

LIMBAUGH: Most Trump Supporters Can’t Wait To Vote For Him

Commentators came out of the woodwork to ridicule President Donald Trump for allegedly turning his July 14 press conference into a campaign rally (and for being unpresidential). So what if he did? They objected that he veered into other topics when he was supposed to be talking about China and Hong Kong. Horrors! The press […]

Commentators came out of the woodwork to ridicule President Donald Trump for allegedly turning his July 14 press conference into a campaign rally (and for being unpresidential). So what if he did?

They objected that he veered into other topics when he was supposed to be talking about China and Hong Kong. Horrors!

The press corps, of all people, has no standing to complain about topic drift at presidential press conferences when it routinely uses such events to ask questions unrelated to the announced topic.

Presidents always frame their policy positions in the most favorable political light, especially this close to an election. Don’t even think about saying Trump is unique on this. Of course Trump is going to argue that his actions warrant his reelection, and it’s absurd to claim that’s unusually political, as if it’s possible to separate policy from politics.

But the liberal media’s hypocrisy is hardly noteworthy anymore. We’d be fools to expect fairness from them.

What is notable, though, is that some establishment conservative strategists and analysts also joined in, lamenting that Trump shot himself in the foot by going off script and meandering all over the board. They essentially said, “He had an opportunity to be presidential on this weighty foreign policy issue, but he descended into campaign-rally mode and blew it.”

They cringe that Trump is unorthodox, unpolished and unafraid to get down in the dirt with his opponents, especially from the lofty, hallowed presidential podium. They also don’t get Trump supporters, who are not holding their noses to vote for him. They can’t wait.

These establishment handwringers have shown themselves ill-equipped to analyze Trump or his supporters because they can’t adapt their expertise and experience to Trump, who broke the mold and is unlike any political figure they’ve ever encountered. They are handicapped by their willful blindness to the unprecedented fascism of today’s political left.

Newsflash: The overwhelming majority of Trump supporters doesn’t give a rip about his so-called presidentiality. They don’t care about the proverbial crease in his pants, or many other characteristics the pseudo-sophisticated beltway elite cherish. They don’t want someone like Mitt Romney, who let Barack Obama walk all over him in a presidential debate instead of fighting for what he purported to believe in.

Trump supporters don’t want Trump to moderate his positions in the hopes that the committed radicals will morph into moderates and the crisis will pass. It won’t, because leftist agitators won’t let it. Trump supporters realize we’re in a war for the survival of the country — a war we didn’t start and one we’ll lose if we don’t fight back with every fiber of our being. We want him to counter the violent, revolutionary left at every turn.

Shame on us if we ignore or downplay the anarchy and violence in the streets; the destruction of monuments; the assault on and defunding of police; the sanitization of radical groups as humanitarian rather than Marxist organizations; the cultural terrorism against ideological diversity; and the deliberate fanning of racial discord.

Sadly, there’s no rational basis for clinging to the hope that the Neville Chamberlains of the right are going to wake up to the existential struggle we’re in and get on board. So, at the very least, we mustn’t let them discourage those who understand the struggle.

Purveyors of conventional political wisdom miss the reality on the ground. They fail to grasp how much Trump supporters appreciate that he counters the liberal media narrative, that he’s calling out the anti-Americanism of the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s and the insane radicalism of their energy-and-economy-destroying green agenda.

Trump supporters don’t believe he’s inhumane for refusing to allow America to be paralyzed by fear, and for insisting that we reopen the economy and get our kids back to school. They deny that he’s racially insensitive because he believes we should protect our borders and shouldn’t kneel for the national anthem.

They reject the false choices foisted on them by a media dedicated to extinguishing the Trump presidency and fundamentally transforming America. They resent being called racist because they celebrate our founding and our Constitution. They will not be bullied into submission by those cynically using the race card as a Trojan horse for socialism and leftist authoritarianism.

Trump supporters understand that the failing Joe Biden, whether or not he’s a radical himself, will be putty in the hands of extremists and that, if Trump loses this election, their children’s chances of living in freedom drastically diminish.

They see what these radicals have done when their political party of choice is out of power, and they shudder at what they would do if in power.

So you “conservative” strategists longing for the surrender of our principles for the sake of Oxford eloquence and phony politeness in the midst of an all-but-hot civil war will just have to remain frustrated, because if you don’t understand what’s at stake by now, you never will. You just aren’t wired to get it.

We Trump supporters understand that we may lose the election and the country, but we won’t do it without fighting or because we fear being falsely depicted as bigots more than we fear losing the nation.

David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is “Guilty by Reason of Insanity: Why the Democrats Must Not Win.” Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at www.davidlimbaugh.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.