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Obama Talks About Rush Limbaugh’s Attacks As Advertiser Loss Skyrockets

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President Obama weighed in just minutes ago on the scandal Rush Limbaugh caused when he started his misogynistic attacks on Sandra Fluke six days ago. Asked by a reporter at the first Obama news conference of the year about Rush Limbaugh and the uproar Limbaugh’s attacks have caused, the President remarked, “All decent folks can agree those types of remarks don’t belong in civil discourse.” Obama added he had his daughters in mind when he placed a call to Sandra Fluke last week, but noted he would not comment on the choice advertisers made to dump Limbaugh. Obama said he could not know what was in Limbaugh’s heart.

The first tangible impact to Limbaugh’s media empire came from the Sleep Train Mattress company last Friday, when they pulled their advertising support. Since then, a total of 28 companies have publicly stated they are canceling or suspending their advertising from the Rush Limbaugh radio show, and two radio stations have dropped Limbaugh’s show altogether. More are still expected as social media activists continue their focus.

Grassroots campaigns across all social media channels have sprung up. The level of outrage and action is growing, not subsiding, perhaps fueled by Limbaugh himself, who over the course of three days last week hurled 53 separate attacks on Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law student whom GOP leaders, including Darrell Issa, refused to allow to testify at an all-male religious leaders Congressional hearing focused on women’s contraception.

After Limbaugh issued a tepid apology Saturday to Fluke, there was hope his personal attacks would have ended, but yesterday on his conservative radio talk show Limbaugh continued his misogynistic and personal attacks against Sandra Fluke, and added the President and the Left to his list of those responsible for his attack against Fluke and contraception, spurring other advertisers, plus two radio stations, to quit.

Last week, Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke, a 30-year old Georgetown Law student, a “slut” and a “prostitute,” and later she post online sex tapes.

Steve Kornacki at Salon notes:

Just before he made his comments about Fluke last week, a Harris poll found that Limbaugh is the most disliked “current affairs personality” in the country — by far. Given a list of 26 different television and radio hosts and commentators, 46 percent of respondents picked Limbaugh as their least favorite, well ahead of second place finisher Bill O’Reilly, who was chosen by 31 percent. On the flip side, only 9 percent cited Limbaugh as their favorite personality.

…

This is what makes the context of Limbaugh’s attack on Fluke so damaging for Republicans. It’s not just that he said something awful about a 30-year-old woman who hadn’t said anything about him. It’s that he did so by way of amplifying the GOP’s message on contraception. Republicans had been taking pains to claim their objections to the Obama administration’s mandate that women be able to obtain birth coverage through their health insurance plans were all about protecting religious liberty — that they weren’t on some puritanical crusade. With his unparalleled platform, Limbaugh has made a mockery of that idea, and he’s put a particularly nasty face on the GOP’s posturing. As GOP consultant Alex Castellanos told The Daily Beast, “we have just handed [Democrats] the cudgel one more time, playing into the stereotype that Republicans are anti-women.”

…

Because they put Limbaugh on a pedestal all these years, Republicans have only encouraged Americans to regard his garbage not just as the rantings of a radio host, but as the message of the Republican Party.

 

READ: Limbaugh: What Companies Still Advertise With Rush? A List.

As of this writing, here is the list of advertisers who have dropped their support from the Rush Limbaugh show:

Deere & Co. (John Deere)

Stamps.com

PolyCom

St. Vincent’s Medical Center

Bethesda Sedation Dentistry

Cascades Dental

Goodwill

Hadeed Carpet

Service Magic

AccuQuote Life Insurance

Bare Escentuals

Vitacost

AOL

Tax Resolution Services

Heart & Body Extract

Bonobos

Sears

Allstate

Sensa

Thompson Creek

ProFlowers

Carbonite

Geico

Sleep Train

Sleep Number

LegalZoom

Citrix

Quicken Loans

List courtesy of Media Matters

Image by Ustream via Twitter

Related:

Post-Apology, Poisoned Limbaugh Brand Loses 4 More Advertisers After Continued Attacks

Limbaugh: I Apologized Because I “Acted Too Much Like The Leftists” (Audio)

Sandra Fluke: “I Don’t Think Limbaugh’s Apology Changes Anything” (Video)

With 9 Gone, Does Rush Limbaugh Have Any Advertisers Left?

Add AOL To List Of Rush’s Advertisers Fleeing Toxic Limbaugh Brand

UPDATE: Why Is LifeLock Still Sponsoring Rush Limbaugh?

Now 8: Limbaugh Brand So Toxic Two More Advertisers Quit After “Apology”

Limbaugh: Apologies, Excuses and Sluts

Limbaugh Brand Poison As List Of Advertisers Quitting Jumps Yet Again

Breaking: Fifth Advertiser Quits Rush Limbaugh After “Slut” Comments

Santorum On “Slut” Slur: Limbaugh An “Entertainer” Who Was “Being Absurd”

Limbaugh “Should Apologize” Says Scott Brown, First GOPer To Denounce

Third Limbaugh Advertiser Quits After Rush Calls 30 Year Old A ‘Slut’

Limbaugh Advertiser Exits Stage Left After Rush’s “Slut” Comments

Limbaugh: Law Student GOP Wouldn’t Let Testify Must Post Sex Tapes Online

Limbaugh Calls Law Student GOP Wouldn’t Let Testify “Prostitute” And “Slut”

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‘I Feel a Little Bit Dumber for What You Say’: The Nine Worst Moments of the GOP Presidential Debate

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8 hours ago

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September 27, 2023

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The second Republican presidential debate was mired in in-fighting and personal attacks by the candidates,  a vow to wage physical war against Mexico, hate against LGBTQ people, an insistence the U.S. Constitution doesn’t actually mean what the words on the page say, and a fight over curtains.

Here are nine of the worst moments from Wednesday night’s debate.

The debate itself got off to a rough start right from the beginning.

Multiple times candidate cross-talk made it impossible for anyone to make a point, like this moment when nearly half the candidates talked over each other during a nearly two minute segment as the moderators struggled to take control.

READ MORE: ‘I Don’t Think So’: As GOP Debate Kicks Off Trump Teases Out the Chances of Any Candidate Becoming His Running Mate

Vivek Ramasway got into a heated argument with Nikki Haley, leading the former Trump UN Ambassador to tell him, “Honestly, every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say.”


Ramaswamy launched an attack on transgender children.

Moments after Ramaswamy attacked transgender children, so did Mike Pence, calling supporting transgender children’s rights “crazy.”

He promised “a federal ban on transgender chemical or surgical surgery anywhere in the country,” and said: “We’ve got to protect our kids from this radical gender ideology agenda.”

Former New Jersey Governor Cris Christie described the First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, who has dedicated her life to teaching, as the person President Biden is “sleeping with.”

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, as CNN’s Manu Raju noted were “one-time allies,” after “Haley appointed Scott to his Senate seat,” until they started “going at it at [the] debate.”

“Talk about someone who has never seen a federal dollar she doesn’t like,” Scott charged. “Bring it, Tim,” Haley replied before they got into a fight about curtains.

Senator Scott declared, “Black families survived slavery, we survived poll taxes and literacy tests, we survived discrimination being woven into the laws of our country. What was hard to survive was [President] Johnson’s Great Society, where they decided to take the Black father out of the household to get a check in the mail.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, currently leading over everyone on stage, said practically nothing for the first 15 minutes. He may have said the least of all the candidates on stage Wednesday night. But he denounced Donald Trump for being “missing in action.”

Watch all the videos above or at this link.

 

 

 

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‘I Don’t Think So’: As GOP Debate Kicks Off Trump Teases Out the Chances of Any Candidate Becoming His Running Mate

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9 hours ago

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September 27, 2023

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Donald Trump, again refusing to participate in a GOP debate, teased out the fate of every candidate on stage Wednesday night: he will choose none of them as his vice presidential running mate.

The ex-president who is facing 91 felony charges in four criminal cases across three jurisdictions and is now also facing the dissolution of his business empire, brought up the running mate question around the same time the debate on Fox News was kicking off.

“It’s all over television, this speech,” Trump falsely claimed, referring to his live remarks at a non-union shop one day after President Joe Biden stood on the picket line with UAW workers.

READ MORE: ‘Apparently You’ll Never Believe Us’: House Republican Melts Down After Reporter Questions His ‘Evidence’ Against Biden

“You know, we’re competing with the job candidates,” Trump said, mocking his fellow Republican presidential candidates after he scheduled an event opposite the debate he refused to attend.

“They’re all running for a job,” he continued, as the audience began to boo.

“They want to be in the, they’ll do anything,” he continued. “Secretary of something.”

“They even say VP, I don’t know,” Trump said. “Does anybody see any VP in the group? I don’t think so.”

Watch below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Careening’ Toward ‘Risk of Political Violence’: Experts Sound Alarm After Trump Floats Executing His Former General

 

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‘Apparently You’ll Never Believe Us’: House Republican Melts Down After Reporter Questions His ‘Evidence’ Against Biden

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14 hours ago

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September 27, 2023

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Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) became defensive and accusatory after repeatedly being unable to answer a reporter’s questions in a press conference Wednesday, held to announce what House Republicans claim is “evidence” against President Joe Biden.

A shortened version of the video posted by the news organization Heartland Signal went viral, garnering nearly one million views in under three hours on the social media platform X.

“Mr. Chairman, question about the timing of all of this,” began an NBC News reporter identified by Mediaite as Ryan Nobles. “You’re talking about a two-tiered system of justice. If I’m not mistaken, on August 7, 2020 Bill Barr was the attorney general and Donald Trump was the president, so explain to me where the two-tiered system of justice comes into play. And then the WhatsApp message you have, I believe, is dated June 6, 2017. Joe Biden is not vice president or even a candidate for president at that time. So where is the direct connection to some sort of criminal malfeasance within these two pieces of evidence?”

RELATED: ‘Everybody Has Seen That’: Fox News Host Smacks Down Republican Pushing Biden ‘Burismo’ Video People ‘Not Talking About’

Chairman Smith could not only not answer any part of those questions, he appeared to forget a portion of them.

“Well, I think the facts speak for themselves,” Smith replied. “There’s over 700 pages of examples of, where people should be very concerned, when you’re talking about um, ah, – what was your first question?”

Smith went on to say, “It doesn’t matter who’s in the White House,” after being reminded them President at that time was Donald Trump. “We need to make sure that the Department of Justice works for all people and doesn’t treat those who are politically connected or wealthy much differently. And unfortunately, we have several examples that came forward by the two IRS whistleblowers, that proves that people are treated differently because they’re politically connected.”

“Are you suggesting that Joe Biden being the president now, is unfairly treating Donald Trump in his indictment?” Nobles asked.

Again, Smith did not answer the question.

“What I’m talking about is the 700 pages that we have before us, which is all the information that came from the IRS whistleblowers, and that’s what we’re releasing right now,” Smith replied, again not answering Nobles’ question. “And I’ll tell you, I would encourage everyone in this room to look at those 700 pages. If you think it’s okay, with what’s in it, then we live on two different planets.”

RELATED: ‘You F**ked Me – I Know It Was You’: Top House Republican ‘Exploded’ at McCarthy After Losing Chairmanship

“Can you explain the timing of the August 6 WhatsApp message? Why is that evidence of some wrongdoing?” Nobles continued..

“I’m not an expert on the timeline,” Smith admitted, before pivoting to say, “I would love to have President Biden and his family to tell us about all the timelines, because it’s really, really unfortunate that we see so many meetings and so many phone calls that involved around official activity that the Vice President has been participating in, and then big sums of money follows later –”

“But he’s not the president or the vice president at that time. Where, where’s the wrongdoing? He wasn’t even a candidate for president,” Nobles pointed out.

“He was a candidate – ” Smith claimed.

“On August 6 –” Nobles began before Smith interrupted him.

“So apparently apparent – what source are you with?” Chairman Smith asked Noble.

“I’m with NBC,” the reporter replied.

“So apparently, you’ll never believe us,” Smith charged.

“I’m asking you a very direct question,” Nobles explained. “You presented a piece of evidence that you say came on August 6, 2017, that demonstrates that Joe Biden was using political influence to help his son. He wasn’t a political figure at that time. The first WhatsApp message you put up, where yo talk about the brand,” Nobles explained. “I’m completely open minded about this. I’m asking you specifically, how does that demonstrate that there was some sort of political influence being put over him, if at that time, he is not a political – he’s not an elected official?”

“I’m definitely not going to pinpoint one item,” Chairman Smith said defensively.

READ MORE: ‘Jaw Dropping’: Democratic Senator Slams Tuberville’s ‘Open’ Talk About ‘White Supremacy’

“You presented it!” Nobles acclaimed. “It was the first thing that you brought up.”

“So apparently, you don’t agree with that. So report that you disagree with it. I’ll take the next question. Yes?” Smith said, refusing to answer any of Nobles’ questions.

Watch below or at this link.

 

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