Rush: White House Wants To "Malign Me"

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Rush Limbaugh

(AP Photo/Gary He)

On "Face The Nation" Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said radio host Rush Limbaugh "is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party."

Emanuel noted that Limbaugh has said he hopes President Obama will fail.

"He said it," said the chief of staff. "And I compliment him for his honesty, but that's their philosophy that is enunciated by Rush Limbaugh. And I think that's the wrong philosophy for America."

Limbaugh is now responding to the "ongoing game of naming me the head of the Republican Party."

"The point here is to take me ... malign me, take me out of context, what I said, attach it to the Republican Party in general because President Obama wants no debate," Limbaugh said, according to Time. "President Obama wants no discussion. President Obama, as has been his modus operandi since he got into politics, is not a level playing field, is to clear the playing field and he has, of course, this army of the drive-by media assisting at every turn."

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"It is cruel because it is a game of manipulation emanating from the Oval Office," he added. "It is an attempt to distract Americans from the destruction of their ability to earn a living."

At the White House press briefing this afternoon, press secretary Robert Gibbs discussed Limbaugh and his comments, saying he "could only imagine" the response had a Democrat suggested a few years ago he hoped President Bush would fail.

Gibbs, pictured below, said Limbaugh "doubled down on what he said in January in wishing and hoping for economic failure in this country" during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend.

(CBS)

The speech, Gibbs told reporters, appeared to be "quite popular at the room in which he spoke."

Asked if the White House was elevating Limbaugh as a political tactic, Gibbs said, "I think he elevated himself."

Gibbs also called the radio host "somebody that seems to be, maybe for lack of a better word, a national spokesperson for conservative views."

In his well-received keynote speech at CPAC, Limbaugh asked, "What is so strange about being honest and saying, I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and reform this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation? Why would I want that to succeed?"

The comment received a standing ovation.

UPDATE, 3:35 PM ET: In an interview with CNN, newly-elected Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said that he – not Limbaugh – is "the de facto leader of the Republican Party."

He also offered some harsh words for the radio host.

"Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer," Steele said. "Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly."

Responded Limbaugh: "I'm not in charge of the Republican Party, and I don't want to be. I would be embarrassed to say that I'm in charge of the Republican Party in a sad-sack state that it's in. If I were chairman of the Republican Party, given the state that it's in, I would quit."

As CNN points out, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor has also distanced himself from Limbaugh, telling ABC News yesterday that "I don't think anyone wants anything to fail right now."

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by Jeffrey_M March 6, 2009 1:20 PM EST: I think the above quote is attributed to the late Dr. Adrian Rogers, not Abraham Lincoln.; Reply to this comment


by 44yo March 5, 2009 10:24 AM EST: Rush Limbaugh is "right on". If Pres. Obama continues with his socialistic agenda, it will be the beginning of the end of our Country as we know it now.

"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of somebody else's money"
Margaret Thatcher

"What one person receives without working, another person must work for without receiving. The Government cannot give to anybody anything that the Government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is surely the end of any nation's future."
Abraham Lincoln; Reply to this comment


by velma179 March 3, 2009 7:21 PM EST: Rush Limbaugh said:

?What is so strange about being honest and saying, I want Barack Obama to fail [***if his mission is to restructure and reform this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation?***] Why would I want that to succeed?"

His lie and it is a bold face lie, not just a clever distortion using his favorite buzz words ... is the part between the brackets with the asterisks.

Obama's mission is to restructure and reform the ethics of capitalism so that the ongoing individual liberties he works for us to maintain are active on a secure foundation.

So --- Rush --- your "IF" falls flat. And you ( by your own words) must hope Obama does not fail.
Unless, of course you are actually honest and admit it's not about liberty and capitalism -- it's about your own ego.; Reply to this comment


by mariannpepit March 3, 2009 11:46 AM EST: The first time I read about Michael Steele I said this is the man to run the republican party. He knows what to say and what not to say and he doesn't need a script. Rush just appointed himself as the mouth for the republican party which means he ignored the fact that Steele was in charge. And that is an insult. I blame the republican party for not stopping Rush who went too far in his remarks. Never wish bad luck on someone and that's what Rush did. Apparently for an educated man he certainly doesn't know how to word his statement.; Reply to this comment


by andie52 March 3, 2009 11:35 AM EST: Rush loves all of the free publicity.

Rush Limbaugh has a finely honed ability to twist and distort reality. Limbaugh's facts are almost never challenged on his programs. A hostile caller hardly ever gets through the screeners on his radio show, and his TV show is just him doing a monologue in front of his cheering audience. No one in the history of national television has had such a political platform. He has almost never corrected anything he's said--although he did apologize once to the aerosol industry for implying that spray cans still had CFCs in them. (CFCs were removed in 1978.); Reply to this comment


by mariannpepit March 3, 2009 11:34 AM EST: What is the matter with the republican party. Rush is only a radio host and should not even been at that meeting. Steele is the head man and Rush should keep quiet. I like Rush but I don't some of his statements. I didn't vote for Obama but don't hope he fails as a president. We all have to accept the fact that he is our president for four years but we don't have to like his policies. If we don't think he should be re-elected then just don't vote him in again. Sometimes Rush makes gets out of control in his statements. Steele should not apologize to him. He owes Rush nothing. Rush needs to respect Steele.; Reply to this comment


by mariannpepit March 3, 2009 11:25 AM EST: I like Rush however he should never had said he hopes Obama fails. Its better to say I hope his policies fail. Steele was within his right to criticize Rush for that statement and Rush quickly said that Steele was for Obama. Not true. Steele criticized the stimulus bill and Obama signing it. Rush has his statements mixed up. Steele told Rush that he is in charge of the GOP not Rush and the republican organization should listen to Steele not Rush. Steele is their chairman Rush is only a radio host.; Reply to this comment


by Dave_P6 March 3, 2009 11:19 AM EST: Rush,
How can the White House malign you when everyone already knows you're a pompous windbag?; Reply to this comment


by dagrandma March 3, 2009 11:17 AM EST: "I am just about to open the phone lines to collect some data about which of these three are the flat out most butt ugly?? "

Tell me something, sweetie. Are you married to Cindy Crawford? Angelina Jolie? Come on, some kind of fashion model or beauty queen? Why is it adzeholes like you have nothing more brilliant to do than to attack a woman's looks? It shows you for what you are honey and that is NOT a real American.; Reply to this comment


by dagrandma March 3, 2009 11:12 AM EST: "Republicans will do their level best to make sure that Democrats don't completely wipe out what's left of our economy."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I'm laughing my adz off! Yeah, it's all Obama's fault. He's been in office since January 20 and the economy didn't tank until he was sworn in, RIGHT?????; Reply to this comment