Conservative firebrands Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are getting the boot from the nation’s second-largest radio network. Cumulus Media has decided to not renew the contracts of two of America’s most-listened-to conservatives at a time when the nation they helped polarize is moving more left.
Just four years ago, after Senator John McCain’s presidential election defeat, many saw Limbaugh as the de facto leader of the Republican Party. But after calling college student Sandra Fluke a “slut” for advocating for women’s health and reproductive rights, Limbaugh reportedly has lost millions in advertising revenue.
Calling it “a move that would remove the two most highly rated conservative talk personalities from more than 40 Cumulus channels in major markets,” Politico reports that “Cumulus is also expected to move some of its existing talent — which includes Mike Huckabee, Mark Levin, and Michael Savage — into one of the slots.”
Savage, spewing his anti-immigrant, anti-gay, extreme nationalism message, is one of the most-radical attack dogs on the airwaves, and his hate speech has forced authorities to ban him from stepping foot in the United Kingdom.
But Mark Levin has been gaining notoriety after Sarah Palin hinted she was thinking of forming a more conservative third party in partnership with Levin. Huckabee and professional anti-gay group leaders from the Family Research Council and elsewhere have also made similar threats.