Rush Limbaugh: 1951-2021
Legacy.
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Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh has died, his wife announced this week.
He was 70.
“I know that I am most certainly not the Limbaugh that you tuned in to listen to today,” Kathryn Adams Limbaugh told her late husband's audience Wednesday afternoon. “I, like you, very much wish Rush was behind this golden microphone right now, welcoming you to another exceptional three hours of broadcasting.
“It is with profound sadness I must share with you directly that our beloved Rush, my wonderful husband, passed away this morning due to complications from lung cancer,” she added. “Rush will forever be the greatest of all time. Rush was an extraordinary man, a gentle giant, brilliant, quick-witted, genuinely kind, extremely generous, passionate, courageous, and the hardest-working person I know.”
Thus concludes the life of the most influential voice in conservative politics since the late 1980s.
This is not an exaggeration.
Before Limbaugh, right-leaning audiences had few options insofar as explicitly conservative political commentary was concerned. They had a handful of magazines. They had a handful of columnists. That was about it. The rest was controlled by the big three networks and other Democratic-sympathetic media, entities that generally invest very little time and effort understanding or speaking to the values of conservative audiences.
Then Limbaugh came along and changed everything. He revived AM radio. He also launched dozens of copycat programs. His success laid the foundation for Fox News, the Drudge Report, the Glenn Beck media empire, and dozens of online conservative media organizations. Limbaugh proved there is an enormous audience for hard-line conservative political commentary, an audience that is both loyal and eager.
It was Limbaugh’s shock-jock approach to the culture wars, going after everything from feminists to environmentalists, that made him a valued voice on the Right. His brand of intentionally provocative rhetoric, paired with his near-total disregard for the consequences of said rhetoric, likewise endeared him to the Right and made him a figure of so much hate on the Left. It was his ability to articulate in so many words the positions and principles held by thousands of conservatives, including that “communism Kills,” “abortion is wrong,” and “ours is a world governed by the aggressive use of force," that made his show a must for the Right. He gave millions of listeners a voice and, for many conservatives, his radio program was the first time that they had heard their views expressed in such a public and uncompromising way, revealing that they were not alone in their beliefs.
Speaking of so many words, Limbaugh's rambling, conversational style was also a large reason for his success. For his audience, listening to any of his three-hour episodes was like sitting next to an interesting, funny, charming, often offensive, and extremely inappropriate bar regular.
Following news of Limbaugh’s death, condolences from Republicans and conservatives poured in from all corners.
"Rest in Peace Rush. God bless his family," said the Dispatch's David French.
Former President George W. Bush released a statement Wednesday that reads in part, “Rush Limbaugh was an indomitable spirit with a big heart, and he will be missed.”
Former President Donald Trump likewise took a moment to commemorate the late radio host’s passing.
"He was a fantastic man, a fantastic talent,” Trump said Wednesday in his first media appearance since the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Biden. “People really respected him."
The former president, whose rise to power Limbaugh enthusiastically backed, added, “His fight was very, very courageous and he was very, very sick ... He was fighting until the very end. He was a fighter."
Loved by the Right and detested by the Left, Limbaugh revolutionized the media landscape and, in the process, helped shape the Republican Party into what it is today.