Matt Schlapp: Remembering Rush Limbaugh

Remembering a legend, radio icon, conservative icon, Rush Limbaugh died today at the age of 70 after battling stage four lung cancer. Here now, Matt Schlapp, American Conservative Union Chairman. Matt, you knew Rush. We need hours and hours and hours and hours to kind of capture what he did for this country and what he meant to so many people, millions of Americans. Yeah, that's right, Dagan. For me, you know, I started listening to Rush when I graduated from college, went home to Kansas and was working in the family store. And we put Rush on every day from noon to three. By the way, most of our customers thought it was great. Some of them probably were offended at more than one time. And people always used to ask Dagan, they used to say, well, wait a minute, is he a news guy or is he an entertainer? My answer was always yes. And he was a patriot. And as Brett Hume was tweeting earlier, more than any single person, Rush Limbaugh helped break the left's monopoly in the media. The left is still dominant, but not to the extent it was before he came along. He waged a brave struggle against deafness and later the cancer that killed him. He was a giant, but he was a giant for conservatives and kind of bridging the gap. I think Newt Gingrich said this, bridging the gap between Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement of today. Yeah. So for many of us, you know, when I used to turn that Rush Limbaugh radio show on in the family shop on the weekends, I used to turn on this little black and white television and watch Firing Line with William F. Buckley. So for people, I'm 53, people my age, there was this transition between William F. Buckley, the great founder of American conservatism, who himself was quite a character, to Rush Limbaugh, who single handedly saved radio and gave Americans a real hope when they realized, you know, most news outlets were so against them and their conservative values. Rush Limbaugh was like this spark plug to make us feel like we weren't alone and to chuckle and laugh and it was okay to kid people and to have fun while you got informed. And I think, like you said, he was a, you know, he saved AM radio, he saved talk radio. And I think there's a linchpin between Rush Limbaugh and what's happened with outlets like Fox News and stuff. It's vitally important for all Americans to have a place where they can get their news when people start turning off these stations and, you know, turning to sites that aren't as reliable. It's not good for democracy. Rush Limbaugh was good for our democracy. And I don't want to make this about me, but I'll tell a quick story. I never, I did not know Rush and I never got to meet him. But in the last several months, it was last year, he mentioned me on air, on his show. He paid me a compliment, said something about my debating skills. So my father's phone blows up. People calling, I think all of Southside Virginia was calling my father. And I think that was the first time my father in my adult life and in my professional career was not worried about me getting fired and moving back in with him. That that was that was the moment that my dad was like, hmm, she actually has a career. But Matt, I'll leave you just some your final thought on the passing of Rush. Yeah, I just want to say back on this personal side, he was very decent to me. It's just a human being. He was a Midwesterner. He was not a big city boy. And he was really nice to people. He was nice to me at several points in my career, including when Donald Trump was running for president. He called me and complimented me and told me that he appreciated my voice. And that meant the world to me at a tough time. And I miss him. But, you know, I'm happy for him because I believe he's in a better place. I'm glad he's out of pain and he can be proud of what he did with his great American life. Indeed. Matt Schlapp, thank you so much. Rush Limbaugh.