Rush Limbaugh has made a lot of enemies on the left, and he probably wouldn’t want it any other way. The iconic broadcaster’s unwillingness to pull punches is key to his appeal, particularly as a voice of dissent in a media landscape crowded by liberal voices.
So it’s not exactly surprising that a long stream of verified Twitter users — journalists, activists, comedians, Rob Reiner, and even former Rep. Katie Hill, D-Calif., — piled on the ailing radio host as soon as First Lady Melania Trump draped the Presidential Medal of Freedom over his shoulders during Tuesday’s State of the Union address. But the outpouring of attacks is still worth noting. Much of the backlash was aggressively ugly given that Limbaugh had announced his advanced lung cancer diagnosis just one day earlier.
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1224895321886593024?s=20
Rush Limbaugh has done nothing but spread hate. One example of what he said: Rush Limbaugh: “The sad thing” about photo of drowned migrants is it's “made to order for [Democratic] presidential candidates” https://t.co/dyvpvGXUbn
— Mana Yegani (@Law_Mana) February 5, 2020
Wow, racist Rush Limbaugh is getting a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
That, my friends is how White Supremacy works.#SOTU
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/aterkel/status/1224888234813132800?s=20
The world is a much darker place due to the work Rush Limbaugh.
— David Rothschild 🌻 (@DavMicRot) February 5, 2020
.@realDonaldTrump just gave the nation's highest civilian award to a man who has a long and demonstrable record of misogynistic and racist comments. And he did it during a #SOTU. https://t.co/5UaejGE32N
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) February 5, 2020
"no one deserves the Medal of Freedom more than Rush Limbaugh" – Rudy Giuliani
past honorees include Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride, Pope John Paul II, Stephen Hawking, Simon Wiesenthal, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gloria Steinem https://t.co/zLBa5WMQcx
— Holly Epstein Ojalvo (@heoj) February 5, 2020
And let's be real. Limbaugh never once said the transatlantic slave trade was a human tragedy, or expressed sympathy for those who died or were killed. He simply wanted to embarrass a member of the CBC for daring to bring up slavery on the House floor.
— Michael W. Twitty (@KosherSoul) February 5, 2020
Rush Limbaugh called a Georgetown student a "slut" and a "prostitute" because she advocated for the insurance coverage of birth control. Trump just gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) February 5, 2020
According to the Pulitzer Prize winning @PolitiFact, more than 80 percent of @RushLimbaughEIB's statements that it fact-checked were found to be false or mostly false. https://t.co/de7LBqc446
— Jonathan D. Salant (@JDSalant) February 5, 2020
Didn’t Rush Limbaugh get fired (resigned) from ESPN for being racist?
— Kevin (@forensictoxguy) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/arashamel/status/1224893907105746950?s=20
~25 years ago, I’d listen to Limbaugh to get a feel for what cons were thinking. He was the first I ever heard insist that cons should stop reading regular news and get their news only from him.
It was disturbing and I never expected it to be so fully actualized. What a mess.
— Elizabeth Picciuto (@epicciuto) February 5, 2020
Not sure it's possible to convey the obscenity of Rush Limbaugh receiving the nation's highest honor in that building #SOTU
— sean illing (@seanilling) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/prrosado/status/1224892956181716992?s=20
I have been listening to Rush @limbaugh for 31 years. He is a:
Bigot
Racist
Misogynist
Jingoist
Propaganda machine for billionaire class.He frequently uses logical fallacies especially, strawman, false authority, adhominem, and outright lies. He's a master demagogue.#SOTU pic.twitter.com/qGkuB757yr
— Edip Yüksel (@edipyuksel) February 5, 2020
On the same day #DirtyDonnie hosted a luncheon for News anchors, where he uninvited CNN, he gives Rush Limbaugh a Medal of Freedom. That tells the whole story about his constant attacks on "Fake News". #NotMyPresident #SOTU
— Martyn LeNoble (@martynlenoble) February 5, 2020
The Wall. Limbaugh. Murderous immigrants. That’s a Trump demagoguery trifecta right there.
— John Cassidy (@JohnCassidy) February 5, 2020
Very few people have done more to endanger the lives of vulnerable populations, degrade the poor, sow racial divisions, inspire treasonous behavior, and poison American families than Rush Limbaugh. To award him the Medal of Freedom tarnishes the medal.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) February 5, 2020
And I'm already tired of posting these quotes. You get the point. Rush Limbaugh is a vile, disgusting human being, and this is what Trump is endorsing.
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/NutmegRadio/status/1224891620174303232?s=20
Not watching this bullshit #SOTU that King Sniffy McAdderal is limping through, but I did find out that a US president has given a medal of freedom to…Rush Limbaugh. That's where we're at. G'night.
— J. Meldal-Johnsen (@justinmj) February 5, 2020
Here's a quick think piece about Rush Limbaugh: He's dog shit. I hope you enjoyed this think piece.
— Tod Goldberg (@todgoldberg) February 5, 2020
Oh FFS Rush Limbaugh getting the Medal of Honor is a low I sure wasn’t expecting.
— Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) February 5, 2020
CORRECTIONS: 1. Trump is NOT protecting pre-existing conditions. 2. Trump absolutely will cut SS. 3. Rush Limbaugh has spent his entire adult life being an unapologetic asshole who has harmed more people than the flu, and doesn't deserve to look at a Presidential medal. #SOTU
— Josh Moon 🇺🇸 (@Josh_Moon) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/MUSTDIEmusic/status/1224890873663512577?s=20
https://twitter.com/Pat_Francis/status/1224890650656591872?s=20
Rush Limbaugh is unlistenable to anybody with a brain who wants actual information
He's an infomercial with bad breath https://t.co/rLBM43uWTA
— Rick Newman (@rickjnewman) February 5, 2020
Wow! Rush Limbaugh was just awarded Biggest Piece Of Shit To Ever Suck Ass. It was a stacked category but my boy pulled it off pic.twitter.com/UBb02wLea0
— Chase Mitchell (@ChaseMit) February 5, 2020
Donald Trump just had the First Lady present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh—the media figure in America who has most lived on and maliciously spread lies, hatred, and fear—always attacking the most vulnerable and especially women. A #SOTU moral offense.
— Jim Wallis (@jimwallis) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/kyliesparks/status/1224890352525381632?s=20
Fuck limbaugh
— nedelle_torrisi (@nedelle_torrisi) February 5, 2020
So it appears as though the Presidential Medal of Freedom means jack squat these days. Tom Brokaw, Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Edward R. Murrow … and Rush Limbaugh?!? Shame such distinguished journalists are now lumped into the same category as Loudmouth Limbaugh. #SOTU
— Don Bradshaw (@DonBradshawNTV) February 5, 2020
I can't even begin to express how incredibly inappropriate awarding Limbaugh the Medal of Freedom during the #SOTU is.
I have compassion for his illness, but there are countless others who've actually served this country honorably,not propagandists,who are more deserving.smh— Tara Setmayer 🌻 (@TaraSetmayer) February 5, 2020
This is an administration that has done its best to redefine the word “racism” to justify misguided white resentment, so why not amend another definition? Giving Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in the middle of the State of the Union or not, does just that.
— Jamil Smith جميل كريم (@JamilSmith) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/ShelbieLBostedt/status/1224889584502308864?s=20
Rush Limbaugh getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom tarnishes it forever for everyone else. It should never be given again. It's meaningless now.
This is not to say that everyone whose gotten it is a saint… but Limbaugh is abominable.
— Gwydion Suilebhan 🟦 (@GwydionS) February 5, 2020
Rush Limbaugh getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom…and…DURING the #SOTU. I mean, why not? We're already neck-deep in horseshit with this speech.
— 𝙼𝚊𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 (@maxapotter) February 5, 2020
Rush Limbaugh very easily occupies a spot on the list of the top 10 most racist and incendiary figures in the eyes of Black America.#SOTU #BHMPolicyWatch
— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/JustinTX_20/status/1224889343073976320?s=20
Rush Limbaugh calls women sluts, demands to see their sex videos. He's spread lies and nasty insults for decades. Trump gave him the Medal of Freedom an his enablers slobber like greedy leeches. #SOTU
— Kimberley Johnson (@AuthorKimberley) February 5, 2020
Rush Limbaugh has done FAR more harm to our country than good. The Presidential Medal Of Freedom has been so tarnished by Trump's desire to hand it to so many friends. #SOTU
— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) February 5, 2020
Only one thing to say about Rush Limbaugh getting a Presidential Medal if Freedom at The State of the Union: I loathe this fucking man.
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) February 5, 2020
Trump just interrupted #SOTU to give Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His health must be even worse than the his grim self-report yesterday if he's mooching that quickly to skip the usual pomp and circumstance of a medal ceremony.
— Grant Stern (@grantstern) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/themaxburns/status/1224889031571447809?s=20
I don't gaf what ails him, Rush Limbaugh is a racist, sexist monster who just cheapened the Medal of Freedom to aluminum foil levels #SOTU pic.twitter.com/gu6gJ9xYxr
— Fiddler (@cFidd) February 5, 2020
Rush Limbaugh has exerted every effort to tear this country apart. Awarding him the Medal of Freedom is a disservice to this country and those who have been awarded the medal. #SOTU
— Allen McDuffee (@AllenMcDuffee) February 5, 2020
I am about to vomit watching Melania put the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Rush Limbaugh.
Limbaugh represents the very worst of America and has for decades.
— Corey Johnson (@CoreyinNYC) February 5, 2020
Melania Trump giving racist Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the same #SOTU speech where Trump tries to use black people as props for his political agenda is offensive.
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 5, 2020
Rush Limbaugh is the least deserving person for that or any award #SOTU
— Phil Kennedy (@BuffaloKennedy) February 5, 2020
Trump praises the uttter lying scum ball Rush Limbaugh in his #SOTU.
— Jeff Stein (@SpyTalker) February 5, 2020
Rush Limbaugh receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a travesty. What an insult to true American heroes. #SOTU
— Howie Hawkins (@HowieHawkins) February 5, 2020
Rush Limbaugh, a racist and hateful white man was honored by Trump w/ medal of freedom during #SOTU
I can’t 😡
— Cristina Jiménez (she/ella) (@CrisAlexJimenez) February 5, 2020
Rush Limbaugh. American Asshole.#SOTU
— Nicole Barrett (@NicoleBarrettTV) February 5, 2020
You gotta hand it to Trump. He knows how to keep the base onboard. Having Melania present Rush Limbaugh with a presidential medal of freedom (!) in the midst of #SOTU is both disgusting and pure right-wing genius.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/RiniSampath/status/1224888518918279168?s=20
Rush Limbaugh getting seated next to the First Lady and praised for his “devotion to our country” should show you how genuine Trump is about all that Black support
— Versha Sharma (@versharma) February 5, 2020
