Rush Limbaugh Goes Viral for Talk of Secession, Now Claims It Wasn’t His Idea
Hugely influential conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh took some heat after saying that the country is “trending toward secession.” So, the very next day Limbaugh said he was misunderstood and was only relaying the speculation of others.
During his Wednesday broadcast, Limbaugh did mention that he’s seen the topic of secession written about but then seemed to make it clear that because of the current political and cultural environments, he thinks “we’re trending toward secession.”
“I actually think — and I’ve referenced this, I’ve alluded to this a couple of times because I’ve seen others allude to this — I actually think that we’re trending toward secession,” the host said on Wednesday.
Then on Limbaugh’s Thursday program, the host seemed to backtrack by claiming that he was only speaking to what bloggers and people on Twitter have been saying.
“I simply referenced what I have seen other people say about how we are incompatible, as currently divided, and that secession is something that people are speculating about,” the host added. “I am not advocating it, have not advocated, never have advocated it, and probably wouldn’t.”
Limbaugh said that he’s not advocating for secession, but at the same time he claimed that liberals and conservatives cannot coexist peacefully because of both political and cultural differences.
“There cannot be a peaceful coexistence of two completely different theories of life, theories of government, theories of how we manage our affairs. We can’t be in this dire a conflict without something giving somewhere along the way,” Limbaugh said.
Limbaugh’s words are obviously dangerous. His audience, which is 15 million strong per week, listens to Rush gush over Trump daily, and talk of secession could lead to violence. Trump’s false election fraud allegations have motivated MAGA die-hards to show up at protests armed.
What may have led to the host’s next day denial was the Drudge Report’s reaction to his comments. They published a photo of Rush with a banner headline that linked to Limbaugh’s show page and read:
“LIMBAUGH: HEADING TOWARDS SECESSION TRUMP THREATENS ‘DANGEROUS MOMENT’ REPUBLICAN CRACK-UP?”
Although at odds with Trump, the aggregating site has long been known for surfacing pro-conservative and anti-liberal articles.
After saying that he’d “probably” never advocate for secession, Limbaugh said it’s basically just not his thing.
“That’s not something — 32 years — that’s not the way I’ve decided to go about handling disagreements with people on the left,” Limbaugh said.