Five times Rush Limbaugh divided the US: A look at controversial radio host's most polarising claims

Right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh recently revealed on air that he is at an advanced stage of lung cancer. The revelation left the 69-year-old Republican kingmaker’s fans dejected. However, there were others who were ecstatic and gave enough indications that they cared little if he passes away.

President Donald Trump, however, continued to be an admirer of Limbaugh with whom he has been spotted playing golf in the past. He said during a private lunch with television anchors on Tuesday, February 4, that he offered Limbaugh a last-minute invitation to be present at his State of the Union (SOTU) Address in the House Chamber. The Republican also ended up felicitating Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the country, during his SOTU speech. First Lady Melania Trump conferred the medal even as the Democrats were seen resenting. 

But why is Limbaugh such a polarizing figure?

There are a number of examples from the past that show how the Missouri-born man had split the nation over his controversial words and acts. Here we enlist five such instances:

Justifying Trump’s controversial reaction to Charlottesville violence

After the 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, Trump had made a controversial response by saying, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides.” Limbaugh at once defended the president’s words and claimed that the riots that took three lives and left many injured had been provoked by 'Black Lives Matter' activists, left-wing anti-fascist movement Antifa and Democrat Robert Creamer. He also alleged that the police response to the violence was deliberately restrained by Virginia’s then-governor Terry McAuliffe -- a Democrat -- as a botched attempt to kick off his 2020 presidential bid. 

He also said that it was part of a campaign by "international financiers” like George Soros to ignite another civil war in the US and hurt its superpower status. At a later instance, Limbaugh again remarked that the Charlottesville protesters were not white supremacists and they were up against the removal of the statue of Robert E Lee, the commander of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.

Remark justifying slavery

Limbaugh was accused of making a racist remark during a talk show in September 2009. It was alleged that Limbaugh defended slavery to say: “I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.”

Limbaugh had later denied having made the remark and his supporters said the mainstream media had interpreted his words out of context. The matter was related to Limbaugh’s pursuit of the ownership of the St Louis Rams of the NFL. Two former NFL players -- Keenan McCardell and Roman Oben -- had said that if the right-wing commentator’s group ended up acquiring the Rams, the team would have difficulty in attracting black players in free agency. “Rush Limbaugh would definitely hurt the St. Louis Rams if he bought the team," McCardell wrote in the Washington Post then. “Rush Limbaugh would definitely hurt the St. Louis Rams if he bought the team. I can only judge what he says on the radio - but the way he talks makes me think he's a racist,” the former wide receiver said. 

Whether Limbaugh had truly said it or not, his controversial remarks on issues like race saw his exit from the ESPN as an analyst on NFL.
 
Calling Iraq War veterans “phony soldiers”
 
In 2007, Media Matters for America reported that Limbaugh had mocked Iran War veterans opposed to the war as “phony soldiers”. Limbaugh said later that his words were taken out of context but that didn’t convince his critics. 

It all happened when Limbaugh and a caller discussed the critics of the Iraq War that started in 2003. The caller on air said: “What's really funny is, they [Iraq war critics] never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media.”

“The phony soldiers,” Limbaugh responded.

The Democrats lashed out at the Republican sympathizer and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying Limbaugh’s remarks were “so beyond the pale of decency that it cannot be left alone.”

“I can't help but wonder how my Republican colleagues would have reacted if the tables were turned -- if a well-known Democratic radio personality had used the same insulting line of attack against troops who support the war,” Reid, a Democrat from Nevada had said.

Over 40 Democrats, including Reid and Hillary Clinton, had signed a letter asking the CEO of Clear Channel to denounce Limbaugh but it was instead auctioned and fetched over $2 million for the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, for which the man conducts charity drive.

Dismissing consent in sexual relations

Limbaugh found his remark getting interpreted "out of context” once again after he dismissed the idea of consent in sexual relations. In October 2016, Media Matters for America reported about Limbaugh bashing “the left” for wanting to send “the rape police” any time there is sex without consent. He further said that consent “is the magic key to the left”. Consent, which Limbaugh termed as “the magic word”, is “the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today”.

Limbaugh made a controversial remark at Ohio State University encouraging students to not care for consent. “How many of you guys . . . have learned that ‘no’ means ‘yes’ if you know how to spot it?” The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee led a movement to boycott Limbaugh’s shows and advertisers by using such statements saying they only meant endorsement of sexual assault. Limbaugh and his team threatened to legally haul up the body. 

Mocking African-Americans

Limbaugh had once said that all pictures of wanted criminals on newspapers resembled Jesse Jackson and that the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and Crips minus weapons. He even told a black caller once to take his/ her nose bone out and call him again for he could not understand what the caller was saying. Limbaugh had also made fun of David Paterson, New York’s first African-American governor, saying he would pick the replacement of representative Eric Massa who resigned and hence get an opportunity to become the “massa” which he used as similarly to 'master'. “So, for the first time in his life, Paterson's gonna be a massa, interesting, interesting,” he had said.