Rush Limbaugh boasts Donald Trump told him not to apologise for his bizarre obsession with Pete Buttigieg
Rush Limbaugh shakes hands with US President Donald Trump during a Turning Point USA event in December 2019. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Rush Limbaugh has said that Donald Trump personally called him to tell him not to apologise for anti-gay remarks about Pete Buttigieg.
The right-wing radio host, a close associate of Trump, has faced anger for claiming that Pete Buttigieg kissing his husband causes “problems” for parents.
Some Republicans, including anti-LGBT+ lawmaker Lindsey Graham, have spoken out to rebuke Limbaugh for his inflammatory comments.
But Donald Trump has not been among them – and Limbaugh now claims that the leader, who awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom last month, personally phoned him to express support and tell him not to apologise.
Rush Limbaugh says Doanld Trump told him not to apologise.
Limbaugh spoke about the controversy on his Wednesday radio show, saying: “The president even called me about this. The president checks in every now and then to see how I’m doing.
“He calls, and [I’m a] powerful, influential member of the media, folks, I have got the White House private number in my phone, so when the White House calls, it says there on my phone.
“He called and said, ‘Rush, I just got to tell you something. Never apologise, don’t ever.’ I said, ‘For what?’ I had no idea this thing had even bubbled up. I wasn’t even aware of this.”
Radio personality Rush Limbaugh reacts after First Lady Melania Trump (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Radio host can’t decide whether Pete Buttigieg is too visibly gay or not visibly gay enough.
Limbaugh went on to claim that the “They” he blames for most of the world’s ills is attempting to hide Buttigieg’s sexuality from voters.
The radio host said: “I warned everybody, be on the look out for Mayor Pete. At no time have I lectured Mayor Pete, at no time have I opined on Mayor Pete as to what I think at all… All you have to do is mention somebody is gay and here they come, you’re a homophobe.
“That’s exactly what this is. I think what set by the drive-bys in the media off is they are mad about my remarks about Mayor Pete because I think they think a lot of people didn’t know that he’s gay.
“Low-information voters, the great unwashed, they think there’s a lot of people who don’t know he’s gay, and I dropped the dime on them. That’s what they’re really mad about, that I even mentioned it. You’re not supposed to mention it. Why aren’t you supposed mention it? Answer that yourself.”
Clearly, this is is a photo of a man trying to hide his sexuality from voters on the campaign trail.
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg does his best to conceal his sexuality from voters, according to Rush Limbaugh (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The candidate has frequently drawn on his experiences as a gay man while speaking on the campaign trail and appeared prominently with his husband, which is actually what prompted Limbaugh’s initial attack a week earlier.
“So I saw a political ad, where Mayor Pete, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, going on and on and on and on and on, about how parents in America are struggling to explain president Trump to their children,” Limbaugh had said on his radio show.
Holding up a photo of Buttigieg kissing his husband Chasten, Limbaugh continued: “So he says Trump causes problems for parents, what about that?”
He then criticised Buttigieg for “kissing his husband [in public] – which he does frequently”.
