He was been credited with reviving AM radio and pretty much laying down the standard for the modern day political talk radio program. The objects of Trump’s rhetorical aggression are more likely to be “outsiders,” although outsiders in Trumpworld can be close to home (see: immigrants).Best known for his self-titled Radio Talk Show, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Rush Hudson Limbaugh (1951-2021) was a well known American conservative pundit who wasn't shy about his viewpoints.

For Limbaugh, those forces are, generally speaking, the enemy within: snobby “libs,” the “ drive-by media,” “feminazis” or “environmentalist wackos” and Black Lives Matter activists. Trump learned during his campaign what Rush Limbaugh has known for decades: On the right, the way to build an audience - or a voter base - is to convince people you’re willing to fight back against the forces that are holding “real” Americans down. He has managed to maintain this illusion despite the reality that, as Matt Taibbi wrote in 2015,“Trump had spent his entire career lending his name to luxury properties that promised exclusivity and separation from exactly the sort of struggling Joes who turned out for his speeches.' And despite Trump's enthusiasm for the failed belief that cutting taxes on the wealthy creates jobs for the working class.īut in Trumpworld, you’re a “populist” not because you advocate for economic policies that actually benefit working people, but because you’re dismissive of “politically correct” elites. A crucial part of Trump’s appeal to downwardly mobile white men is his image as the “blue-collar billionaire” who will do what it takes to bring back good jobs for the working class. Like Limbaugh, Trump is a man of privilege whose class sympathies lie with the rich, but who nonetheless has been able to market himself as a supporter of average (white) Americans. Opinion Trump giving the Medal of Freedom to a GOP megadonor is almost too obvious And they are both fake populists who have used aggressive rhetoric and bullying to claw their way to cultural and political influence. They both repeatedly make misogynistic comments and refuse to apologize for them. They are also both members of the one percent who inhabit worlds of almost unimaginable wealth and privilege, living in luxury dwellings in New York City and mansions in south Florida and flying around the world on private jets. They are both frequent supporters of aggressive military action, including torture, but each deftly avoided military service during the Vietnam War era: Trump avoided serving through a series of deferments common to members of his social class, Limbaugh through a draft eligibility reclassification stemming either from an anal cyst or an old knee injury. They both have reaped rich rewards in life despite - or is it because of? - levels of narcissistic toxicity that are notable even in the puffed-up precincts of real estate and conservative media. They both grew up as the sons of authoritarian, deeply patriarchal and professionally successful fathers. They’re both aging heterosexuals of German-American descent born five years apart.

In this sense, Limbaugh’s affection for Trump was about more than his recognition of a kindred spirit it was actually a manifestation of his narcissism.Ĭonsider the many similarities between the two men. And for more than 30 years, his legions of fans have loved him for it. Especially those who have to face voters. Limbaugh’s unparalleled popularity owes a great deal to his willingness to say things - especially misogynist, racist and homophobic things - that more respectable Republicans would never utter in public.

Limbaugh has long positioned himself as an outsider - a cleverly constructed persona the college drop-out from Cape Girardeau, Missouri parlayed into a long and amazingly lucrative career in conservative talk radio. Any critical Limbaugh listener could hear the gushing self-congratulation of the compliment.

Rush limbaugh medal of dom surprise