Rush Limbaugh Quotes That Will Make Your Stomach Turn

Last Updated February 25, 2021

On February 17, 2021 conservative TV and radio personality Rush Limbaugh died of lung cancer at the age of 70. He’s had a long career in both mediums, pushing himself as a no-nonsense right winger that tells it like it is… and typically “like it is” for him tends to be filled with racist, sexist and hateful rhetoric.

He’s been a controversial figure for many years, regularly getting backlash for his positions and views on leftist politics and particular social issues, but it is undeniable that his influence on conservatism in this country has been astronomical. His work, particularly The Rush Limbaugh Show, has been instrumental in creating and facilitating the MAGA culture of conservatism that helped make the Trump presidency possible.

I can’t help but imagine his show is what Trump lovers masturbate to after waking up in the morning every day; so it wasn’t much of a surprise that Trump granted Limbaugh the the medal of freedom in 2020. Their “brand” of divisive politics, racial and gender insensitivity, and unwavering hatred of the evil that is the democratic party couldn’t possible align more.

Since his death I have been intrigued by the idea that I am completely fine with him being gone. But let me be clear – I do not wish death or ill will upon anyone, no matter how hateful I believe they are or how much we may disagree, or how differently we both perceive the world. I do believe that all life is precious, even his… BUT I don’t think it’s a bad thing to revel in the fact that his many years of pushing hateful and twisted ideas, dangerous conspiracy theories, and the threat of another civil war has finally come to an end.

A USA Today article that I found made the argument that those of us that saw Rush Limbaugh’s career as destructive to simply “say nothing” in regards to his death, in an attempt to not ending up sinking low like him to hate and mock those that believe things contrary to him. While I understand the sentiment the writer was pushing, I think saying nothing is a bit enabling. While his legacy will not go away and his work will forever be immortalized in the realm of digital media, his ideas should ALWAYS be questioned and challenged openly.

And I don’t agree with shaming people that feel a weight has been lifted with his passing. His ideas have been incredibly destructive and I believe are at the core of the thought process that allows people to, say, storm the capitol building and feel it is warranted. It is ok to feel good that he is gone, but it isn’t ok to feel good about him dying. It is totally understandable to see a silver lining in the fact that his reign of disinformation and terror has come to an abrupt end.

So I’ve compiled a list of truly despicable quotes from Rush Limbaugh that may remind people of WHY people like me see this chapter of conservative hatred coming to an end as a good thing. I’ve done my very best to vet the legitimacy of each quote by using reputable and well-researched sources, such as this article from People, this well researched NewsOne article, this Snopes piece that attempts to fact check certain quotes, and this Daily Mail article that seems to get off on his quotes.

Whenever you start to feel guilty about reveling in the fact that he’s gone just like the dinosaur he is, revisit this post. And be sure to smoke one before continuing on to help combat the nausea. Chances are some of these will truly make you sick.

Rush Limbaugh on Race and Obama

– “They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?”

– “The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”

– “Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”

– “I think it’s time to get rid of this whole National Basketball Association. Call it the TBA, the Thug Basketball Association, and stop calling them teams. Call ’em gangs.”

– “If any race of people should not have guilt about slavery, it’s Caucasians. The white race has probably had fewer slaves and for a briefer period of time than any other in the history of the world.”

– “You’re a foreigner. You shut your mouth or you get out.”

– “Let the unskilled jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do — let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work.”

Rush has always been shamelessly outspoken about his hatred for democratic politicians, most notably Obama. He has repeatedly referred to Obama as a “halfrican American”, downplayed his presidential win by calling him the “affirmative action candidate” and has even gone as far as continuously playing a song on his show called “Barack the Magic Negro”. Here’s a few other things he’s said:

– “We need segregated buses… This is Obama’s America.”

– “A bunch of white people who thought electing a black president would assuage all of their guilt and erase our racial past voted for Obama… It wasn’t for his policies, as we are now quickly learning.”

– “Obama’s entire economic program is reparations.”

On Feminism and LGBTQ Movements

– “I come from a long ago era where men could be men and stereotypical humor didn’t offend anybody.”

– “Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to the mainstream of society.”

– “Feminism has led women astray. I love the women’s movement — especially when walking behind it”

– “Women should not be allowed on juries where the accused is a stud.”

– “When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it’s an invitation.”

– “I guarantee there’d be some people in the Republican establishment who will now think, yeah, we need to do this. We need to provide a home, we need to provide a comforting atmosphere for the tranny community and the gay community. But those people are voting Democrat anyway.”

– “What’s the difference between a liberal and a conservative? A liberal will interpret the constitution, a conservative will quote it!”

– “End results that work that don’t involve government threaten liberals.”

– “I’m amazed at the Democrats and the media who do not know what’s going on in my world. I know what’s going on in theirs. I study ’em. I watch ’em every day.”

– “Liberals measure compassion by how many people are given welfare. Conservatives measure compassion by how many people no longer need it.”

– “Liberalism is a scourge. It destroys the human spirit. It destroys prosperity. It assigns sameness to everybody. And wherever I find it, I oppose it.”

On Himself

– “I want the largest audience I can get, because that’s how I can charge the highest advertising rate. Which means what else do I want? Money. I am trying to earn a profit. It’s capitalism.”

– “If people are speaking about something passionately and if they have a level of intelligence about it and if they’re sufficiently informed, it’s going to be like a magnet to people.”

– “Most of my critics don’t even listen to me; they are clueless. They just go to Web sites that report what I say out of context.”

– “Even when I think I’m wrong, I’m right. I am all-knowing.”

– “I am the Doctor of Democracy. I am America’s Truth Detector. And as the Doctor of Democracy, the deal you have with your doctor isn’t changing. You get to keep your doctor. You get to keep your plan. You get to keep your station. Nothing’s changing, and it really never was gonna change.”

In Conclusion

I could have spent this entire day compiling more quotes but my stomach can no longer take it. The thing that upsets me the most is that I honestly don’t believe that people like Limbaugh and Trump represent traditional conservative or Republican ideas and philosophies. They seem to represent something very new and different, yet the Republican party and voters never seem to go out of their way to condemn their rhetoric or lies. I support Black Lives Matter but if they came out tomorrow and said something like “immigrants ain’t shit, go back to your country” I would have a serious existential crisis on my hands, and would definitely have to reevaluate calling myself a supporter of their cause.

It reminds me a lot of Season 1 episode 2 of Black Mirror where the main character, angry and disillusioned by the world he is living in, finds a way to make his angst a consumer commodity. After selling out, at what point does it all become a show? At what point does the “message” you spread and influence you have become just a means to excel financially?

Rush spoke with such dogmatic indignation, with such pride and shamelessness, especially in the moments where he was basically being a bully and knowingly insensitive. I believe he was smart enough to know how and when to be tactfully hateful and heartless while keeping his base ravenous for more fodder. He always knew exactly what to say to his target audience, never straying away too far from what they wanted to hear, such as this Breakfast Club interview where he tries to show empathy for the murder of George Floyd.

I do not want to be someone who dances on his grave because I would be a hypocrite, and there’s nothing worse than that in my opinion. But I am absolutely glad that he is gone. No longer will his “views” be the topic for discussion on major news channels. I believe that it will fade back into the background of a once-obscure, silent minority of ignorant, shamelessly bigoted white Americans. And I say it’s about god damn time.