Rush Limbaugh finally kicked the bucket this week and returned to the pits of hell. The odious prick dedicated his career to worsening the public discourse, spewing hatred and misogyny, promoting political division, and using his platform to punch down at marginalized communities. He profited handsomely from that effort and leaves this country worse for his contributions. Donald Trump even debased the Presidential Medal of Freedom by honoring Limbaugh a year ago during his State of the Union address. The three-time divorcee had no children and is survived by his fourth wife.
Limbaugh had once condemned illegal drug use, stating that "Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country ... And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up." In 2006, Limbaugh was arrested on drug charges in association with his abuse of oxycodone and hydrocodone. Later that year, he was detained by the DEA for illegal trafficking of prescription drugs from the Dominican Republic.
A college dropout, Limbaugh was so ignorant of higher education that he once attacked Classical Studies as a socialist plot. He was instrumental in bringing an extreme anti-intellectualism to the conservative movement, where conspiracy theories and outright lying found full flower under Trump.
Limbaugh had promoted numerous debunked theories, including suggestions that the existence of gorillas disproves the theory of evolution, that Ted Kennedy sent a letter to Soviet General Secretary Yuri Andropov seeking to undercut President Reagan, that a lack of hurricanes disproved climate change, and that President Obama wanted to mandate circumcision.
Limbaugh also once claimed that actor Michael J. Fox had purposely exaggerated the effects of his Parkinson's disease in a TV ad for political gain. One year later, he categorized Iraq War veterans opposed to the war as "the phony soldiers". In 2012, he called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” because she supported Obamacare-mandated coverage of contraception. When rock legend Jerry Garcia died, Limbaugh called him "just another dead doper-- and a dirt bag."
During his time staining our existence, Limbaugh was known by many nicknames, among them:
- Pig Newton
- Human Hindenburg
- COVID Hominid
- Kid Corona
- Covidiot
- The Hyper Ventilator
- Wuhan Conman
- Mount Rushbo
- Douche Rimjob
- America's Rancorman
- Mr. Creepypants
- Rush Dim-bulb
- Rush Limburger
- Maha Rushie
- The Surreal O'Reilly
- Oinker Boinker
- The Portly Parrot
- Whoosh Windbag
- Illsbury Dough Boy
- Captain Krispy Kreme
- Flush Gorgon
- The Original Right-wing Megalomaniac
Limbaugh also had a long history of homophobic and bigoted comments, railing against gay marriage and claiming that transgender people were mentally ill. Back in the 90's he had a segment on his show called "AIDS update" that was set to music where he mocked dying gay people and made jokes about a disease that had killed more than 100,000 people in the United States the previous decade. Limbaugh also had another segment that used former Congressman Barney Frank, a prominent gay politician, as fodder. That segment featured the song “My Boy Lollipop” as slurping sounds played in the background.
Limbaugh also spread the unfounded claim that gay men practiced “gerbilling” and once said, (according to James Retter’s book “The Anatomy of a Scandal”) that gay men “deserved their fate.” He even recently made disparaging comments against former Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg.
In 2003, Limbaugh provoked outrage on ESPN when he participated in a segment discussing Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb,
a black man in the prime of his 6-time Pro Bowl career. Limbaugh shocked viewers when unexpectedly blurted out, “I think what we’ve had here is a little social
concern from the NFL; I think the media has been very desirous that a
Black quarterback do well…I think there is a little hope invested in
McNabb.” Limbaugh lasted barely four weeks before he resigned from the network in disgrace.
Limbaugh also infamously slung countless racist attacks at former President Barack Obama (remember the “birther” conspiracy theory?) and also falsely claimed that prominent women of color, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, were not actually women of color. Limbaugh also rallied endlessly against environmental progress, feminism, and Obamacare. He used his platform to stoke Islamaphobia, transphobia, and shame people living with HIV.
In 2015, decades after everyone knew of the dangers of smoking, Limbaugh continued his ill-informed rant and disinformation campaign against anti-smoking efforts. In an April 17 broadcast, he said about secondhand smoke, "That is a myth. That has been disproven at the World Health Organization and the report was suppressed. There is no fatality whatsoever. There’s no even major sickness component associated with secondhand smoke. It may irritate you, and you may not like it, but it will not make you sick, and it will not kill you."
In the early days of the pandemic, Limbaugh was one of the original Coronavirus deniers, saying, "I'm dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks." Limbaugh's statement was called "wildly irresponsible."
As Trump supporters engaged in the January 6 insurrection, Limbaugh took a dismissive tone to those calling for an end to violence after the ugly scenes played out on television-- comparing the rioters to the colonists who sparked the American Revolution.
After the Capitol riots, Limbaugh announced that “Republicans do not join protest mobs. They do not loot and they don’t riot.” He blamed the attacks on “antifa Democrat sponsored instigators.” Limbaugh even claimed that the Capitol Police were part of a vast left-wing conspiracy to discredit Trump by letting rioters in: “there was nobody to stop them from breaking in…we got set up again.”
Limbaugh was a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, and an anti-intellectual force who transformed the media, the conservative movement, Republican Party, and ultimately America. The harmful effects of his three-decade-long reign as the king of talk radio will be felt for decades to come, from all the radio hosts and politicians who have imitated his hateful and ignorant rhetoric. Good riddance!
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