Rush Limbaugh, the influential conservative radio host, has died of complications from lung cancer, his wife Kathryn announced on his radio show on Wednesday. He was 70 years old.
“It is with deep sadness, I must share with you directly that our beloved Rush, my wonderful husband, passed away this morning due to complications from lung cancer‘, she said.’ As so many of you know, it is terribly difficult to lose a loved one, especially when that loved one is larger than life. Rush will forever be the greatest of all time. “
Despite Rush being one of the most recognized powerful people in the world, success has never allowed his core or beliefs to change, she added. “He was polite and respectful to everyone he met.”
Last February, Limbaugh brought the news of his cancer diagnosis to his listeners. “I can’t help but feel like I’m abandoning everyone with this. But the result is that I’ve been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer,” he said at the time.
Just a day later, former President Donald Trump awarded awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. Mr. Trump thanked Limbaugh for his “decades of tireless dedication” to the nation.
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The radio host found common ground with Mr. Trump, who was known for his high media presence and divisive comments, long before his presidency. For the 2016 election, Limbaugh treated the former president as a serious contender, bolstering his platform for his millions of listeners. He praised Mr. Trump for his bombastic and “smart” media strategy.
Throughout the Trump administration, Limbaugh used his radio show to show support for some of Mr. Trump’s most controversial policy decisions.
Born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Limbaugh began his career in radio at the age of 16. After working his way up from stations, he transitioned from disc jockey to radio host by crisscrossing his broadcasts with sound effects and quick words, a departure from most broadcasts. Leaving radio for a short while struggling to find widespread approval, in 1988 he launched his self-titled radio show, which quickly became one of the most popular conservative talk shows.
Limbaugh was the winner of multiple broadcast awards, including entry to both the Radio Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
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Limbaugh made headlines for his controversial remarks and was routinely accused of bigotry, sexism and racism for his fiery comments. Over the years, he offered several apologies for accusing Michael J. Fox of exaggerating his Parkinson’s symptoms, citing a law student Sandra Fluke a ‘slut’ and ‘prostitute’ and for promoting the false theory that former President Barack Obama was not born in the US
Limbaugh was also a heavy smoker who liked cigars. He often claimed that the medical risks of smoke and secondhand smoke were false and were suppressed by health officials.
In a 1991 interview with “60 minutes“, Limbaugh admitted that others called him both sexist and homophobic, which he denied.” I am none of those things. I am just someone who views and comments on life events. I have my own version of what is right and wrong. “