Limbaugh was interviewed by Greta Van Susteren for the FOX News program, 'On The Record.' Read the transcript.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Explain to me -- I know that you -- what you've said is that you are different from -- or you take different positions on some things from Senator McCain. But can you tell me specifically in this ad where it is that he's trafficking in prejudice?
LIMBAUGH: Where he's trafficking in prejudice?
VAN SUSTEREN: Yes. What was it that was in the ad?
LIMBAUGH: What's in the ad is that he claims that I said Mexican illegal immigrants are dumb and stupid, which I didn't say. And he also takes an excerpt from a commentary I did in which I was parodying Mexican law, Mexican immigration law, in which I said, while going through Mexican immigrant law, immigrants to Mexico have to shut up, you can't participate in the political process, or get out.
He portrays both those comments as about illegal immigrant. One of the comments was made to a caller 1993. The other was from a "Morning Update" commentary I did in 2006. So the prejudice is trying to make these Hispanic audience members watching this ad think I hate them, think I dislike them, think I want nothing to do with them. I've never said that. I have never in any way, shape, matter or form said illegal immigrants are dumb and stupid. I have never told them to shut up and get out, not once!
Now, I don't know what you call that, if you want to just call it lies, but it's certainly prejudice because he's trying to gin up anti- American sentiment, anti-Republican sentiment with lies to people who are - - may be illegal in the country, may be legal or what have you -- but he's pitting groups of people against each other left and right here, and that's -- I mean, I don't know what you'd call it. It's not even just prejudice, it's bigotry. It's flat-out racism.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, what the campaign -- at least from what you tell me about the interview with Tammy Haddad is that they are trying to align you and Senator McCain together and use your statements and take your statements out of context to poison against Senator McCain. Now, you don't agree with Senator McCain on immigration. Are there other issues that separate the two of you?
Watch Greta's interview with Rush: Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3
LIMBAUGH: Yes, but let's -- let me focus on this one because you just nailed one of the biggest fraudulent aspects of the ad. They're trying to compare -- they're trying to -- they lie about what I said, take it totally out of context, and then say that this represents McCain's view. Now, one thing that the Hispanics of this world know is that McCain was for total amnesty. He was for comprehensive reform. He does not share one opinion of mine, other than now he's come around on closing the borders first. And that's an -- he's insulting the intelligence of these people.
[...]RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: And there's other things that I disagree with on Senator McCain. I'll give you one right now, and it's a minor one. We are going through this Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac thing. We are going through the Wall Street problems and the accountability, and so forth. And senator McCain gave a speech in Green Bay today, and a couple of days ago he said the same thing. And I understand the populist tendency here, because people are upset, to bash Wall Street and to join the chorus that Wall Street is corrupt and full of a bunch of people, but that's not the case. I don't think that bashing Wall Street when the Democrats are already doing that is a way for Senator McCain to separate himself.
What he ought to do is what he did in Green Bay this morning, which is to attack the people responsible for the Fannie Mae disaster, and that's all Democrats. It's Chris Dodd, it's Barney Frank, it is Barack Obama, it is Franklin Rains, in is Jim Johnson, people associated with the Obama campaign. I understand the temptation to start ripping into Wall Street because people instinctively fall into that so-called "class envy" susceptibility to this. But I think that it's a mistake. I think can distinguish himself better by attacking the people who are really- He is running against Democrats, he's running against Obama. He's not running against Wall Street. Wall Street, I don't know what we're going to close out today, but Wall Street is probably going to finish the week higher than where it started. Imagine that. It's a lesson to staying calm and cool. I also wish he hadn't thrown Chris Cox under the bus, the Securities Exchange Commission guy, saying he would have fired him. Cox had nothing to do with this. This is a tendency of Senator McCain's to look at himself as Teddy Roosevelt and take on anybody he things is a robber baron. And I wish he would take some of that back and just focus on who he's really running against, the people trying to destroy him.
No comments:
Post a Comment