Conservative talk radio host
Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday he was misrepresented by the media who claimed he was defending Donald Trump on his show Monday.
Limbaugh pointed to
Maggie Haberman's New York Times blog entry headlined "Rush Limbaugh Rallies Listeners to Donald Trump’s Defense."
"Such a defense is not entirely surprising, since Mr. Limbaugh's distaste for the Republican establishment is deep and well documented," Limbaugh quoted Haberman on
Tuesday's show.
"No, it's not," Limbaugh protested. "I mean, just last week The New York Times and The Washington Post or somebody was writing about how I run the Republican Party."
Limbaugh said his point Monday was not to come to Trump's defense, but to point out how he exhibited behavior usually not seen by Republicans when they are under attack for saying something unpopular.
"The conventional wisdom in circumstances like this goes this way: You have a Republican public figure who says something that constitutes stepping in it," Limbaugh said. "In this case, it's Trump's supposed comments about McCain, but even those were distorted. And whatever the perp — always a Republican, never a Democrat — says is something so bad, so beyond the pale that the entire media establishment and the Washington establishment immediately demand that the perp apologize."
The "perp" usually does, he said, and is properly chastised. He pointed to Sharron Angle, Todd Akin and Sarah Palin as examples.
Trump is staying in and fighting, he said, and, as a result, there soon will be data to show whether that method works.
The Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday shows that it actually might, he said.
"It was reported in some places, 'Oh, my God! Trump survived it!' 'Oh, my God, this is horrible.' 'Oh, my God, it didn't hurt Trump.' 'Oh, my God, it even helped Trump,'" Limbaugh said.
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