Donald Trump broke his media silence on Wednesday when he called into Fox News’ “Outnumbered” to mourn the death of controversial radio host Rush Limbaugh who died at the age of 70 after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer last year.
“He is a legend. He really is. There aren’t too many legends around. But he is a legend,” Trump said. “And those people who listen to him every day, it was like a religious experience for a lot of people.”
Trump recalled that Limbaugh was one of the first major media personalities to support his 2016 effort, telling Fox News: “He became a friend of mine. You know, I didn’t know Rush at all. I had essentially never met Rush. And then when we came down the escalator he liked my rather controversial speech.”
“He thought we were going to win,” Trump added. “I don’t think it was necessarily the reason he was so gracious so early. He just had an incredible instinct for politics and he had an incredible instinct for life.”
After Trump lost the 2020 election, Limbaugh helped to spread the big lie that the election was stolen from him.
“I think it’s disgraceful, what happened,” Trump said. “Rush thought we won, and so do I. I think we won substantially.”
“We were like a third-world country on election night with the closing down of centers. … You don’t know how angry this country is, and people were furious,” Trump added.
Neither Fox News host pushed back on his debunked claims that the election was stolen from him.
