Rush's Race-Based Rant

Attacks Mandela, Claims Democrats' Concern Over Darfur Genocide and Apartheid Is Merely a Ploy to Keep Black "Voting Bloc"

Nation's Top Nationally Syndicated Radio Host and Leading Conservative Voice Continues History of Racially Divisive Political Commentary -- Will the Media Notice?

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Washington, DC - Today, David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters for America, called on Rush Limbaugh, the nation's preeminent conservative voice and top talk radio host, to apologize for claiming that Democrats advocate stopping the Darfur genocide and supported Nelson Mandela's fight against apartheid in South Africa merely as an effort to curry favor with African-American voters.

"Rush Limbaugh's exploitation of race, the Darfur genocide and South African apartheid for political gain is deeply disturbing. To twist these horrible human tragedies to score political points is beyond the pale, even for Limbaugh," said Brock. "He is once again using his position as the most prominent conservative voice in America to exploit race and tragedy as a political weapon. It's time he was called on it by the media. He needs to apologize."

On the August 21 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that Democrats "want to get us out of Iraq, but they can't wait to get us into Darfur." He continued: "There are two reasons. What color is the skin of the people in Darfur? It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting bloc, they're in trouble." A caller responded, "The black population," to which Limbaugh said, "Right."

Media Matters for America is a not-for-profit, progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.

Limbaugh claims Dems' interest in Darfur is securing black "voting bloc"

Summary: On his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that Democrats "want to get us out of Iraq, but they can't wait to get us into Darfur." He continued: "There are two reasons. What color is the skin of the people in Darfur? It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting bloc, they're in trouble." A caller responded, "The black population," to which Limbaugh said, "Right."

On the August 21 broadcast of the nationally syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show, a caller said to host Rush Limbaugh: "I know I'm no expert in foreign affairs, but what really confuses me about the liberals is the hypocrisy when they talk about how we have no reason to be in Iraq and helping those people, but yet everybody wants us to go to Darfur." Limbaugh responded by claiming Democrats "want to get us out of Iraq, but they can't wait to get us into Darfur." He continued: "There are two reasons. What color is the skin of the people in Darfur? It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting bloc, they're in trouble." The caller responded, "The black population," to which Limbaugh said, "Right."

Limbaugh also stated: "So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela -- who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing."

Limbaugh added: "Clinton sent the U.S. military off to Bosnia. No U.S. national interest at stake. The liberals will use the military as a 'meals on wheels' program. They'll send them out to help with tsunami victims. But you put the military -- you put the military in a position of defending U.S. national interest, and that's when Democrats and the liberals oppose it."

However, interest in ending the killing in the Darfur region of Sudan is bipartisan. In 2006, Congress passed the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, sponsored by then-Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL). The law contained several sanctions on Sudan, including a ban on ships involved in Sudan's oil trade docking at U.S. ports of entry. An initial version of the bill passed the House by a vote of 416-3, and the final version passed the House by voice vote and the Senate by unanimous consent and was signed by the president on October 13, 2006.

From the August 22 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: Here's [caller] in Lake Orion, Michigan. Thank you for calling. Great to have you on the EIB Network.

CALLER: Hey, Rush. It's great to talk to you. I talked to you once before. I've been listening to you for a couple of years now, and I think I'm getting brighter, but there's a lot to be learned. I know I'm no expert in foreign affairs, but what really confuses me about the liberals is the hypocrisy when they talk about how we have no reason to be in Iraq and helping those people, but yet everybody wants us to go to Darfur. I mean, aren't we going to end up in a quagmire there? I mean, isn't it -- I don't understand. Can you enlighten me on this?

LIMBAUGH: Yeah. This is -- you're not going to believe this, but it's very simple. And the sooner you believe it, and the sooner you let this truth permeate the boundaries you have that tell you this is just simply not possible, the better you will understand Democrats in everything. You are right. They want to get us out of Iraq, but they can't wait to get us into Darfur.

CALLER: Right.

LIMBAUGH: There are two reasons. What color is the skin of the people in Darfur?

CALLER: Uh, yeah.

LIMBAUGH: It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting bloc, they're in trouble.

CALLER: Yes. Yes. The black population.

LIMBAUGH: Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela -- who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing.

CALLER: It's just -- I can't believe it's really that simple.

LIMBAUGH: Well, see, I knew you couldn't believe it. But here's the -- here's one that's even going to be harder to believe and it is even more truthful. Could you tell me what vital national interest, [caller], is at stake in Darfur?

CALLER: Um, I don't know.

LIMBAUGH: Nothing. Zilch, zero, nada. Darfur is not attacking us. Darfur has not said they want to attack us. So they will -- same thing -- Clinton sent the U.S. military off to Bosnia. No U.S. national interest at stake. The liberals will use the military as a "meals on wheels" program. They'll send them out to help with tsunami victims. But you put the military -- you put the military in a position of defending U.S. national interest, and that's when Democrats and the liberals oppose it. And --

CALLER: Right. Terrorists have attacked us and our oil supply comes from, you know, Iraq and Iran and the Middle East, and yet that's not worth defending.

LIMBAUGH: Right. That's exactly right. You've got it. You've got it. Now you just have to believe your own instincts from here on out.

Previous Media Matters Items on Limbaugh and Race

Carlson, Limbaugh baselessly accused Obama of justifying and inciting riots

http://mediamatters.org/items/200706070003

On the June 5 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, after playing a short excerpt of Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) June 5 speech in which Obama discussed what he called "quiet riots" of despair and hopelessness in poor communities, host Tucker Carlson accused Obama of "giving a political justification to totally unacceptable, never justifiable behavior." He also stated, "[I]t seems to me that when people burn down stores, kill people because they're Korean, or beat people in the head with cinder blocks because of their race, like Reginald Denny [a white man who was injured in the 1992 Los Angeles riots], that's not a political statement." But contrary to Carlson's suggestion, Obama, referring to the 1992 riots, explicitly denounced violence in the speech, including some of the specific acts Carlson listed: "This is not to excuse the violence of bashing in a man's head or destroying someone's store and their life's work. That kind of violence is inexcusable and self-defeating."

Latching onto L.A. Times op-ed, Limbaugh sings "Barack, The Magic Negro"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703200012

On the March 19 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Rush Limbaugh highlighted a March 19 Los Angeles Times op-ed that described Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) as "running for an equally important unelected office, in the province of the popular imagination -- the 'Magic Negro'" -- a term used by critics of pop culture to describe certain benevolent African-American characters. Limbaugh stated: "The term 'Magic Negro' has been thrown into the political presidential race in the mix for 2008. And the term 'Magic Negro,' as applied to Barack Obama has been done by an L.A. Times columnist, David Ehrenstein." Limbaugh later asserted: "I'm going to keep referring to him as that because I want to make a bet that by the end of this week I will own that term," adding, "If I refer to Obama the rest of the day as the 'Magic Negro,' there will be a number of people in the drive-by media and on left-wing blogs who will credit me for coming up with it and ignore the L.A. Times did it, simply because they can't be critical of the L.A. Times, but they can, obviously, be critical of talk radio." Limbaugh continued to refer to Obama as the "Magic Negro" throughout the broadcast -- 27 times, to be exact -- and at one point sang "Barack, the Magic Negro" to the tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon." Limbaugh defended his use of the song, stating, "Well, that's what we always do here. We do parodies and satires on the idiocy and phoniness of the left."

Limbaugh: Gonzales is "under fire by white liberal racists in the Senate"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703280008

On the March 27 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, Rush Limbaugh claimed that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, "the first Hispanic-American attorney general -- a minority" is "under fire by white liberal racists in the Senate." In fact, Gonzales' handling of the U.S. attorney firings has been criticized by lawmakers of both parties, and his actions have been censured by the Senate's only African-American and by one of its three Hispanic members.

ABC aired Limbaugh as "observer" on race issues in Biden controversy

http://mediamatters.org/items/200702010004

On the January 31 edition of ABC's World News, during a report on Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s (D-DE) controversial description of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), senior national correspondent Jake Tapper cited radio host Rush Limbaugh as an "[o]bserver" who "questioned what Biden meant, especially by the word 'clean.' " Tapper aired an audio clip of Limbaugh saying, "And see, folks, this is the problem for the libs. Once they get off script, they expose their idiocy. They expose their prejudice." Tapper paired Limbaugh's comments with remarks by civil rights activist and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson.

Limbaugh on Obama: "Halfrican American"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200701240010

On the January 24 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Rush Limbaugh referred to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and actress Halle Berry as "Halfrican American[s]," stating that "Barack Obama has picked up another endorsement: Halfrican American actress Halle Berry." Limbaugh then said: " 'As a Halfrican American, I am honored to have Ms. Berry's support, as well as the support of other Halfrican Americans,' Obama said." Limbaugh then conceded that Obama "didn't say it."

Limbaugh gave baseless interpretation of Clinton speech to claim she was "demeaning" blacks

http://mediamatters.org/items/200704250004

On the April 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) made a "demeaning reference to the fact that [African-Americans are] janitors, or custodial workers, or cleaning people" during her April 20 speech at the National Action Network annual convention by saying the following: "The abuses that have gone on in the last six years -- I don't think we know the half of it yet. You know, when I walk into the Oval Office in January 2009, I'm afraid I'm going to lift up the rug and I'm going to see so much stuff under there! You know, what is it about us always having to clean up after people?"

Limbaugh: "Could we not say that if Obama wins ... he will own Al Sharpton?"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703050002

On the March 2 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Rush Limbaugh stated that "since [Sen. Barack] Obama [D-IL] has -- on his mother's side -- forebears of his mother had slaves, could we not say that if Obama wins the Democratic nomination and then wins the presidency, he will own [Rev.] Al Sharpton?" Limbaugh was reacting to a March 2 Chicago Tribune article that reported that two of Obama's ancestors on his mother's side owned slaves.

Limbaugh on Obama: "If he's got fire in his hands, what has he got in his pants?"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200701190004

On the January 18 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, discussing Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) smoking, Rush Limbaugh said: "If he's got fire in his hands, what has he got in his pants?"

Limbaugh called "Barack Hussein Obama" a "half-minority"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200701170010

On the January 16 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh called Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) a "half-minority" and said that "the media ... are in the midst of Obama-gasms" because "Barack Hussein Obama" has formed a presidential exploratory committee. Limbaugh called Obama "a half-minority" in the context of criticizing Obama for supporting his hometown Chicago Bears over the New Orleans Saints in the upcoming January 21 National Football Conference championship game.

Limbaugh complained Democrats are not asked why "there are no women and minorities on stage"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200705170002

Referring to the May 15 Republican presidential debate, Rush Limbaugh asserted, on the May 16 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, that "there's a template developing for the Republican debate last night. 'How come there are no women and minorities on stage?' I guess you forgot about 2004." He then said: "And I guess -- you know, the Democrats never get those kinds of questions because it's always assumed that they're fair and just, and not discriminatory and all that.

Limbaugh invented "racial component" to Hackett's decision to withdraw from Ohio primary race

http://mediamatters.org/items/200602160001

Rush Limbaugh invented a racial element to explain Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett's departure from the Ohio Democratic Senate primary race against Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), asserting, "And don't forget, Sherrod Brown is black. There's a racial component here, too." In fact, Brown is Caucasian -- a point on which Limbaugh was corrected later in the program.

Limbaugh "kind of like[s]" analogy that Obama "is the Donovan McNabb of the U.S. Senate"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200602090012

Summary: Rush Limbaugh said he "kind of like[s]" a listener's analogy that Sen. Barack Obama "is the Donovan McNabb of the U.S. Senate."

Criticizing Sen. Obama, Limbaugh called him "Obama Osama"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200507120008

Nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh repeatedly called Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "Obama Osama" and "Osama Obama" during the July 11 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show. In criticizing a July 10 speech by Obama in Eatonville, Florida, Limbaugh added "Osama" to the senator's name seven times. Limbaugh justified his use of the phrase by explaining that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) had once done so.

Limbaugh on Jesse Jackson: Kerry camp got "a chocolate chip"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200409300008

On the day Reverend Jesse Jackson joined the Kerry-Edwards '04 campaign, radio host Rush Limbaugh said the "Kerry campaign has finally gotten a chocolate chip."