{"id":44030,"date":"2021-02-17T22:20:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T22:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=b8448f561bdd8d7060cbe822b6f2f247"},"modified":"2021-02-17T22:20:11","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T22:20:11","slug":"rush-limbaughs-death-evokes-little-sympathy-from-progressives-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/02\/17\/rush-limbaughs-death-evokes-little-sympathy-from-progressives-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Rush Limbaugh\u2019s Death Evokes Little Sympathy From Progressives on Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Rush<\/a>

Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who hosted his eponymous radio program “The Rush Limbaugh Show” for the past 32 years, died on Wednesday, his wife announced on his show. He was 70 years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

Limbaugh announced in February 2020 that he was diagnosed<\/span><\/a> with advanced Stage 4 lung cancer. Shortly after, former President Donald Trump controversially awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during that year’s State of the Union address.<\/span><\/p>\n

Limbaugh\u2019s rise in talk radio led him to influence, often in detrimental ways, the conservative movement over the past few decades. Often lacking in policy points <\/span>but heavy on personal attacks<\/span><\/a>, Limbaugh’s show went after a number of groups, including feminists, members of the LGBTQ community, and racial minorities, as well as left-leaning individuals and organizations in general. <\/span><\/p>\n

Limbaugh rarely held back or exercised restraint in his attacks, which were often baseless and petty \u2014 including <\/span>several comments he made in the 1990s about the physical appearance of then-teenager Chelsea Clinton<\/span><\/a>. He helped shape right-wing radio with such attacks, which were copied by countless other commentators throughout the country, frequently with the same hateful and vitriolic bantering he’d spout off on the daily show.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of Limbaugh’s more notable and detestable moments included <\/span>calling Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” in 2012<\/span><\/a> for daring to suggest women deserved access to birth control; promulgating the “birtherism” conspiracy theory that wrongly alleged former President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the U.S.; and more recently, <\/span>pushing the unsubstantiated claims of a supposed “deep state”<\/span><\/a> working against Trump during his only term in office. <\/span><\/p>\n

His commentary often resulted in dangerous views that put his own listeners’ lives at risk. Limbaugh, for example, dismissed coronavirus as nothing more than the “common cold” at the early stages of the pandemic. <\/span><\/p>\n

Just last month, the radio host also made some approving remarks about the January 6 attack of the Capitol building, <\/span>which was carried out by a mob of Trump loyalists<\/span><\/a> and resulted in at least seven deaths, including in the weeks following.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several progressive voices spoke out about Limbaugh’s legacy, which they said would not be remembered well. Many recounted Limbaugh in general ways, pointing out that he helped to widen the divisive political gap in the U.S. through his programming and constant attacks over the past few decades:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rush Limbaugh helped create today\u2019s polarized America by normalizing racism, bigotry, misogyny and mockery. He was a demagogue who got rich off of hate speech, division, lies and toxicity. That is his legacy.<\/p>\n

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) February 17, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n