Radio host Rush Limbaugh told a frustrated caller on his Monday show that he “never” took Donald Trump seriously on the Republican nominee’s signature issue, immigration. The caller, identified as Rick in California, told the veteran conservative host about his irritation with Limbaugh’s defense of Trump’s apparent moderation on illegal immigration.
“I just wanted to comment on your comment that you just made about Trump and his deportation shift,” said Rick. “I just distinctly heard you say that it’s not considered a flip-flop. You’re doing a disservice to all of us Republican primary voters who didn’t vote for Trump, who are struggling with whether or not to vote for Trump, when you diminish the impact of his single policy that he ridiculed all other candidates for.”
The caller pointed out how Trump had ridiculed the other Republican candidate for president for not being for full deportation of illegal immigrants, with the reality-TV host positioning himself as the only one willing to make the necessary stand. “For you to sit here and say, when he adopts the positions of everybody he ridiculed as not even being a flip flop and it’s no big deal? This is why so many Republicans have such a hard time going to the con man,” said Rick.
Limbaugh protested lamely, saying he didn’t think Trump’s position on immigration had changed as much as the caller was saying. But Rick was ready:
With all due respect, Rush, on Chuck Todd’s show, he specifically said, when asked the question, “You mean you’re going to rip the families apart?” He said, “No, I’m not going to rip the families apart, they all have to go, even the U.S. citizen children.” He then got into the middle of the debate, and the argument between Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, when Ted wanted legalization and Marco wanted citizenship as part of a comprehensive plan. He said that they were both wrong, that they were both being absurd, that they all had to go “or we don’t have a nation of laws.” Come on! You were watching the debates as well as the rest of us were. You know exactly what he said and you know exactly the way he ridiculed everybody on that stage.
When Rick was finished, Limbaugh seemed to resign “You know, I could choose a path here to try to mollify you, but I never took him seriously on this!”
Rick noted that millions of Republican primary voters did, to which Limbaugh responded that no one who supported Trump in the primary will “care” about this flip-flop (which Limbaugh, remember, said wasn’t a flip-flop).
DONALD TRUMP: The executive order gets rescinded. One good thing about– CHUCK TODD: You’ll rescind that one, too? DONALD TRUMP: One good thing about– CHUCK TODD: You’ll rescind the DREAM Act executive order– DONALD TRUMP: You’re going to have to. CHUCK TODD: DACA? DONALD TRUMP: We have to make a whole new set of standards. And when people come in, they have to come in legally– CHUCK TODD: So you’re going to split up families? DONALD TRUMP: Chuck. CHUCK TODD: You’re going to deport children– DONALD TRUMP: Chuck. No, no. We’re going to keep the families together. We have to keep the families together. CHUCK TODD: But you’re going to keep them together out– DONALD TRUMP: But they have to go. But they have to go. CHUCK TODD: What if they have no place to go? DONALD TRUMP: We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country or we don’t have a country. CHUCK TODD: The cost of– DONALD TRUMP: Either, we have a country– CHUCK TODD: –doing this– DONALD TRUMP: –or not. CHUCK TODD: How do you do it? DONALD TRUMP: The cost of doing it? Look at the cost of what we have right now. CHUCK TODD: But the cost of doing it. DONALD TRUMP: Let me ask you this. Do you think there’s– CHUCK TODD: I understand that. But how do you it? DONALD TRUMP: Do you think there’s tremendous cost for the illegals that are in here right now? CHUCK TODD: Of course there’s cost to it. DONALD TRUMP: Okay, tremendous. Do you think there’s tremendous crime being committed by illegals? CHUCK TODD: I know there’s definitely evidence that it’s happened. DONALD TRUMP: Tremendous– (OVERTALK) CHUCK TODD: –heinous crimes– DONALD TRUMP: Far greater than what– (OVERTALK) CHUCK TODD: There’s been some heinous ones. DONALD TRUMP: And you see it all over. Just last night. All over. We will do it. And we will expedite it so people can come back in. CHUCK TODD: It’s still not clear to me here– DONALD TRUMP: Chuck, it’ll work out so well. You will be so happy. In four years, you’re going to be interviewing me and you’re going to say, “What a great job you’ve done, President Trump.”
