RUSH: Before we go to the phones we have a guy from Miami on the phone. Grab audio sound bite number three, ’cause he’s calling about this. Last night in Rochester, New Hampshire, Q&A, an unidentified audience member and Trump had this exchange…
MAN: Okay, we have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one.
TRUMP: Right.
MAN: You know, he’s not even an American.
TRUMP: We need this question! (laughing) This is the first question! (laughing)
AUDIENCE: (laughing)
MAN: But, anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That’s my question.
TRUMP: We’re gonna be looking at a lot of different things and, you know, a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there. We’re gonna be looking at that and plenty of other things.
RUSH: Okay. So now there is a cacophony all across the American media because Trump did not correct the guy. He did not protect Obama, didn’t shield Obama, didn’t correct the guy. And they’re very, very upset about this. Let’s go back and listen to how McCain dealt with something like this. Let’s go back October 10, 2008. This was in Lakeville, Minnesota.
WOMAN: I gotta ask you a question. I do not, uh, believe in… I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him, and he’s not — he’s not — he’s a — he’s an Arab. He is not —
AUDIENCE: (laughing)
MCCAIN: No, ma’am.
WOMAN: No?
MCCAIN: No, ma’am. He’s a — he’s — a he’s a decent family man.
RUSH: Right. (impression) “He’s a decent family man! In fact, he’s smarter. It’s smarter to vote for him than vote for me! He’s a decent guy. Yeah.” That’s how we do it. That’s how we seek the approval of the Drive-By Media, and they loved McCain for that. Last night on CNN Anderson Cooper 360 after playing a clip of that exchange between Trump and the campaign rally guy you just heard, Anderson Cooper weighed in.
COOPER: He could have at that point said, “You know what? Muslims in America are not the problem. You know, by and large the Muslim population in America is well assimilated and are Americans just like anybody else. We’re supporting Muslim regimes around the world. We have our soldiers and Marines who have fought and died to help Muslims around the world.” He could have said all of that, and that’s… I’m imagining he wishes he possibly said that.
RUSH: Same show, David “Rodham” Gergen was on. Anderson Cooper said, David “Rodham” Gergen, “Is it the responsibility of a leader like Trump to actually say something like that when one of their [stupid] supporters pipes up?”
GERGEN: It’s the responsibility of the leader to push back against prejudice. That question was heavily laden with prejudice. Anderson, the presidency of the United States is not only the most powerful position in the world, but it also carries with it a certain moral responsibility toward the health of a society. And if you’re going to be a serious campaign for president, you’ve gotta step up to that responsibility.
RUSH: Chris Christie stepped up on the Today show today, interviewed by Matt Lauer. Question: Does Mr. Trump need to apologize to the president and to Muslims out there?
CHRISTIE: He’s gotta decide what he wants to do for himself. But I will just tell you that if somebody at one of my town hall meetings said something like that, I would correct them and say, “No, the president’s a Christian, and he was born in this country.” Those two things are self-evident, and I wouldn’t have permitted that if someone brought that up at a town hall meeting of mine I would have said, “No, listen, before we answer, let’s clear up some things up for the rest of the audience,” and I think you have an obligation as a leader to do that.
RUSH: Now we go to Aben in Miami, Florida. Hi. Welcome to the program. Great to have you. Hello.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush.
RUSH: You bet.
CALLER: Yeah, well, my take on all that is, since when is it Trump’s obligation or duty to certify Obama’s religion? He couldn’t do it if he wanted to. He’s not with him when he prays. He’s not in his head. And no one can confirm or deny anyone else’s religion. So I just disagree with all of those other pundits and politicians saying that.
RUSH: Well, you know, you got Hillary Clinton the same thing. I have a story here from the Daily Caller. This is February 21, 2015: “In March 2008, as she was vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton was asked by 60 Minutes Steve Kroft whether she believed Obama was a Muslim. Clinton initially answered in the negative, but seemed to pull back at the end. ‘You don’t believe that Senator Obama’s a Muslim?’ Kroft asked. ‘Of course not. I mean, that’s, you know, there is no basis for that. … No. No, there is nothing to base that on,’ Clinton said, adding, ‘As far as I know.'”
CALLER: Well, I mean, the correct way to say this, “How would I know?” Nothing else. Because we don’t know. Nobody knows to say, “I don’t know.”
RUSH: But but but but but but but, the media people say that we should defend Obama ’cause Obama has said he’s a Christian. So if we’re not gonna call him a liar, then that’s what’s on the record. Obama says he’s a Christian. He has never said he’s a Muslim or Islamist, so that’s what everybody has to go on, and given that the theory is that Trump should have corrected the audience member.
CALLER: Right. And now we have to vouch for his honesty as well as his religion.
RUSH: Well, that’s exactly the way McCain did it.
CALLER: Yeah, I know.
RUSH: You know the drill. Exactly. This is how the media plays the game.
CALLER: Exactly.
RUSH: They get to referee whether we’re reprobates or not.
CALLER: That’s right and people take the bait all the time.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: Just be very honest. How do I know?
RUSH: Now, Trump’s out there saying — what do you think of this — Trump is saying, “Well, I wasn’t quite sure what the guy was asking me.”
CALLER: Well, I was watching when that happened, and I actually just liked his reaction, ’cause what he did is he just turned his head to the side, I get this on my first question, and then he let the guy go on, so that was the —
RUSH: This is the thing.
CALLER: You know, kind of funny.
RUSH: No, no. She, Aben here, the caller and a lot of other people, have the same — it’s not whether Obama’s a Muslim or not. It’s why should we defend the guy? The answer is, “How do I know what he is?” “Well, he said.” “Well, how do I know?” It’s exactly what she said, “How do I know what he is? It’s not my job to proclaim him something or not.” So the agenda here is once again to embarrass or to stigmatize a conservative. It’s another area where Trump distances himself and does not play according to the political correctness rules, which always redounds to his benefit. Thank you for the call, Aben.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: You will not believe — and by the way, don’t turn it on. You don’t need to turn it on. I’ve got it on. I can tell you everything that’s gonna happen that you need to know. CNN and Fox News are both carrying a portion of a Hillary Clinton press conference in which she is suggesting that Trump apologize to Obama for not defending Obama’s religious honor in the face of the bigoted, prejudiced question from the Trump supporter in New Hampshire last night.
And now Fox is discussing how it’s properly handled, with Joe Trippi, a Democrat consultant. He needs to do what McCain did. He needs to follow the advice of Senator Lindsey Graham. Hillary is addressing the media about this, and they’re labeling this on CNN: “Latest Trump Controversy.”
Greetings, and welcome back, Rush Limbaugh, EIB Network, Open Line Friday, 800-282-2882, and e-mail address, ElRushbo@eibnet.com.
Here’s what this is all about. Grab audio sound bite number three. This is what this is all about. This happened last night at a Trump campaign event.
MAN: Okay, we have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one.
TRUMP: Right.
MAN: You know, he’s not even an American.
TRUMP: We need this question! (laughing) This is the first question! (laughing)
AUDIENCE: (laughing)
MAN: But, anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That’s my question.
TRUMP: We’re gonna be looking at a lot of different things and, you know, a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there. We’re gonna be looking at that and plenty of other things.
RUSH: Okay, so apparently that was such an egregious thing to do that Mrs. Clinton called a press availability. She’s addressing the media now, demanding that Trump apologize. (imitating Hillary) “I really hope he does,” she said, “I really hope he does. We need to get back in this campaign to discussing issues, and not personalities, and it would be a great opportunity for Mr. Trump to deflect this and keep his campaign focused on the things he wants it focused on and not things like this.” She’s really being helpful. Hillary Clinton being real helpful. Fox and CNN both carried, I assume MSNBC did, too.
Did they break into soap operas on the broadcast nets to carry this? We don’t know that. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did. So the latest Trump controversy is that Trump had better apologize to Obama fast if he knows what’s good for him. Now, on the heels of this is a story at The Politico today that Trump has peaked, it’s over. He’s beginning to fade out. His Twitter mentions are way down. His name and common, ordinary everyday political discussion on the Web is way down. His appearance at the debate was nothing special, just like any other guy there, seemed bored and out of it half the time they’re saying, not cool.
If any of that’s true, you know, Mrs. Clinton and the media ganging up on the guy may cause there to be a miniature rebirth. And of course all eyes will be on Trump now to see how he deals with this. You know, if I were Trump I’d go out there say, “I think President Obama is beautiful.” I’m just kidding, folks. Just a little jocularity here on Open Line Friday. But because he didn’t correct the guy asserting that Obama is a Muslim all hell has broken loose now. And it really hasn’t. See, this is classic. Nobody’s really mad about this. This is just the opportunity that they’ve been waiting for.
They thought Trump had stepped in it how many times before? They’re just trying to make this the instance where Trump steps in it and they can get rid of him. Remember what I just said about the club. The ruling class, the inside-the-Beltway elites, they don’t want Trump in the club, and so they’re doing everything they can here. They’re not mad. This is the thing that I think people misunderstand. The media gets away with two things: They act outraged when they’re really not. And then they act as though everybody in the country is outraged.
Go back to the state of Indiana religious freedom law. Remember that little inconsequential pizza shop that answered a probing question from a local reporterette saying, “No, we wouldn’t serve pizza at a gay wedding reception.” You would have thought the whole country wanted to storm Indiana, set the state on fire, and destroy that that little pizzeria. They try to create this impression that everybody is as outraged as they are, when there isn’t anywhere near the level of anger and outrage across the country as they’re trying to portray.
They’re not even mad. They’re salivating, they’re excited, “Oh, whoa, oh, look what we got. Trump stepped in it maybe.” And they put everything in gear, everything in motion trying to make it so that this is Trump’s Waterloo. But they’re not mad about this. The anger that they may be portraying is faux, but it certainly isn’t real. And let’s not forget this. Mrs. Clinton is out there pontificating today on what Trump ought to do.
Daily Caller has the details, February 21st, 2015. Headline: “Flashback: Hillary Slammed For Saying Obama Is Not A Muslim ‘As Far As I Know’ — In March 2008, as she was vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton was asked by ’60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft whether she believed Obama was a Muslim. Clinton initially answered in the negative, but seemed to pull back at the end. ‘You donÂ’t believe that Senator ObamaÂ’s a Muslim?’ Kroft asked. ‘Of course not. I mean, thatÂ’s, you know, there is no basis for that. You know, I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isnÂ’t any reason to doubt that,’ she answered. ‘You said youÂ’d take Senator Obama at his word that heÂ’s not a Muslim. You donÂ’t believe that heÂ’s a Muslim?’ Kroft said. ‘No. No, there is nothing to base that on,’ Clinton said, adding, ‘As far as I know.'”
Well, what is that? To me that is far more egregious than not correcting a premise in a question. Which, by the way, if you saw, Trump laughed at this guy asking the question. This is weird here, folks, this “as far as I know.” “Of course he’s not a Muslim, as far as I know.” And nobody jumped on her for that. Here she is out here now as the referee getting to determine and tell Trump what he ought to do in order to fix this.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Jeffrey Lord is on CNN making a brilliant point right now, folks. Jeffrey Lord points out that he is an active member of the United Church of Christ. That’s the same church that Obama is a member of in Chicago, the same church that Reverend Wright’s a preacher. And Mr. Lloyd reminds Wolf Blitzer here that Barack Obama sat in those pews for 20 years and listened to a bunch of hate-filled anti-Semitism from Reverend Wright, and who knows whatever the hell else, and never once corrected Reverend Wright, and never once demanded that Reverend Wright stop saying these hateful things.
And then when it came time, he defended Reverend Wright and talked about how he could not throw Reverend Wright under the bus. Barack Obama wants everybody in this country to believe that we have racism in our DNA. Do not doubt that. This man thinks this country was founded on racism, bigotry, and all these other things, and his mission is payback. That’s what his presidency has been about.
As far as Mrs. Clinton is concerned, has she apologized to the parents of the men killed at Benghazi for her incompetence and for her lying about them about what happened? I’ll tell you what’s happening. The Democrats are setting a trap for Trump re this whole question of whether or not Obama’s Christian or not, and it’s to get Trump to backpedal. That’s the one thing that would hurt Trump is if he backpedals on anything.
That would be Trump not being Trump, not sticking to his guns. That’s why I think if Trump’s gonna react to this, he needs to go out there and he needs to appropriate this business that Jeff Lord just mentioned. “Hey, where’s President Obama demanding that Reverend Wright stop with the anti-Semitism and the other hate? He heard it for 20 years, and he’s still his preacher.” And, “Hillary Clinton, you’re telling me I need to apologize?
“Have you apologized to the parents of the men killed at Benghazi for your general incompetence? President Obama, you got a kid who made a clock in Dallas coming to the White House. You’ve got the pope coming to the White House who’s gleefully taking on America. You haven’t had the parents of Kate Steinle to the White House, Mr. President.” I’d fire both barrels it all these people. But I sure as heck would not backpedal. Trump can’t be held to account for somebody in his audience, anyway.
Mike or somebody, see if we’ve got a sound bite in our archives. George Stephanopoulos… Obama’s on a George Stephanopoulos show and he cites, quote, “my Muslim faith.” He misspeaks. He’s rattling on about something and says, “My Muslim faith,” and Stephanopoulos gets all nervous and says, “Uh, uh, uh. You you you you you mean you mean Christian?” “Uh, yeah, yeah! Right, right, right! Christian. Christian faith.” I’d get that ready to go. I’d get all kinds of things.
But now CNN is trying to say that Trump is ducking the issue now, and this is why. There’s a story here from CNN. Headline: “Trump Cancels South Carolina Trip.” From the article: “Just hours before he was expected to speak…” There’s a presidential forum in South Carolina. “Just hours before he was expected to speak, GOP front-runner Donald Trump canceled a trip to South Carolina for the Heritage Action Presidential Forum because of a ‘significant business transaction’ that is delayed, his campaign said in a statement.
“‘He sends his regrets and looks forward to being with the great people of South Carolina,’ the campaign said. The cancellation comes as the billionaire businessman faces widespread criticism for failing to correct an audience member at one of his town hall meeting on Thursday, who falsely said President Barack Obama was a Muslim and not an American citizen.” By the way, what is so wrong with being a Muslim? What’s so bad about that? Why is everybody saying, “No, no, no, no! He’s not a Muslim!”
Is there something wrong with being a Muslim? Why do you have to make tracks correcting that? I thought it’d be an honor if you’re a Muslim! We do business with them, we defend them, we bomb other people for them. What’s the deal? What’s so embarrassing about being a Muslim, I wonder? Anyway, the main thrust here of the CNN story is Trump did not cancel his South Carolina trip because of this.
Long before this erupted, he announced the cancellation because there’s a business deal that’s supposed to have been solved by now but isn’t, and he had to take care of it. CNN acknowledges that but the way the story is written makes it look like Trump is ducking the issue. “Trump doesn’t challenge the claim Obama is a Muslim!” Here’s Mrs. Clinton. Grab audio sound bite number 27. This is Hillary. This is from 60 Minutes back in March 2008, what I just read to you.
Here this is in her own words. This is Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes.
HILLARY 2008: Of course not. I mean, that’s… Y’know, that… There is no basis for that. You know, I take him o-o-o-on the basis of what he says, and, y’know, there isn’t any reason to doubt that.
KROFT: You said you take Senator Obama at his word that he’s not a Muslim.
HILLARY: Right! Right!
KROFT: You don’t believe that his a Muslim?
HILLARY: No! No!
KROFT: I mean or are implying, right?
HILLARY: Why would I? There’s no — no. There is nothing to — to base that on, as far as I know.
RUSH: “There’s nothing to base that on, as far as I know.” “There’s nothing to base that on as far as I know.” What if I were held to account for some of the things you people who call me say? That’s what’s going on. This is made to order. They’ve been waiting for this, folks, and it’s now timed here perfectly with the presumption that Carly Fiorina wiped the slate clean with the debate on Wednesday night, mopped the floor with everybody else.
They’ve been wanting to get Trump from day one.
They thought Trump stepped in it himself a number of times and it didn’t happen. So this… You can see ’em now. They’re just going into full speed, all gears, full ahead. Left, right, 360, straight ahead to hit ’em, doing everything they can, marshaling everything they’ve got. And it’s a trap. Again, it’s a trap for Trump to backpedal. If he does that, then that’s the worst thing he could do in the eyes of his supporters, and there’s clear ammo for him to fire back at everybody involved here, including the Drive-Bys.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Take a look at this, folks. The media’s more worked up over something Trump did not say than Obama going out and playing golf right after ISIS had beheaded an American journalist, or all those Christians on the beach. They’re more angry over what Trump did not say than anything Obama has ever said or has done. They’re not mad! They haven’t been mad about what happened at Benghazi. They’re not mad! They’re not demanding that Obama explain himself on any of his policy failures.
How about the boondoggle that’s Obamacare?
But they’re all upset about Trump. By the way, if I might ask the question: Why is it Donald Trump’s obligation to tell everybody who Barack Obama is? Why isn’t that Obama’s responsibility? There are a lot of people out there who believe it, and the polling data shows a lot of people think that he is Muslim. Why is it not his responsibility to clarify this? “Mr. Limbaugh, don’t be silly!”
This is the voice of the New Castrati.
“That would be so beneath the president of the United States! Do not demand this kind of thing, to speak to idiots like that. You can’t.” Then why is it Trump’s obligation then, Mr. New Castrati? You’ve gotta understand what this is, folks. I could tell you, according to a lot of polls out there… I’ve seen them; you’ve seen them. I don’t know what the percentage is. A sizable number of Americans still believe Obama’s a Muslim.
We’re still looking for that sound bite of Stephanopoulos, where Obama said “my Muslim faith” and Stephanopoulos had to correct him. We’re still looking for that. (interruption) We have it? It’s number 30? I didn’t say…? (interruption) Oh. Okay, here it is. Nobody told me it had been cut. Here it is. Listen to this. This happened on September 7, 2008 (seven years ago, folks) on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. He said, “The McCain campaign never suggested you have Muslim connections. John McCain said it’s wrong.
OBAMA: Let’s not play games. What I was suggesting… You’re absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith, and you’re absolutely right that that is not —
STEPHANOPOULOS: Christian faith!
OBAMA: My Christian faith.
RUSH: Okay, so, say what you want, Obama himself said it. How many Americans might have heard that and still believed that it wasn’t a slip of the tongue, that it was not a faux pas? Want to listen to it again out there? All right, here we go. This is September 7, 2008, on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. This is after McCain, said, “Sir! Sir, that’s wrong! This man is an honorable American. He’s a Christian. He’s not a Muslim. I don’t want anybody in my audience speaking that way. Got it?”
So they’re talking about that, they’re praising McCain for being filled with honor and so forth, and Stephy’s pointing out to Obama, “McCain said that’s wrong for people to call you a Muslim.” (replaying of sound bite) Right. Stephanopoulos says, “Christian faith! Christian faith!” Yes, yes, yes. Make of that what you will. But there’s Barack Obama sitting at the United Church of Christ, 20 years there that Reverend Wright’s the preacher.
“G–damn America! … America’s chickeeeeeeeens are coming home to roost,” and all the stuff he said about Jewish people, the anti-Semitic stuff. Obama’s never apologized. Obama’s never demanding that Reverend Wright stop talking that way. In fact, Obama said that he can’t because of some racial fealty he has to observe. Here’s Sarah in Manhattan. Welcome to the program. Really glad you called.
CALLER: Hello. Hi. So I agree. Obviously they want to take [Trump] out, and I really, really want them to fail. So I was trying to think how could he do…? How could he answer in a way that you so cleverly do, which is with a little humor and sarcasm and you throw people’s words back at them. So it occurred to me that it is very controversial to call ISIS Muslim.
He says, “They’re not Muslim. This is not Islam,” even though they say they are. So, if it is a minefield to question or discuss people’s religion, I think perhaps Trump could just say, “I don’t discuss that. I don’t know. Obama says that people who say they’re Muslim aren’t Muslim. This man says that someone who says he’s Christian isn’t Christian. I choose not to discuss people’s religion. I don’t think that’s important.”
RUSH: Okay, well, if the Trump people are listening, they might factor that in. It’s along the lines of saying, “How would I know what he is?” And the media say, “He said he’s a Christian!” Okay, fine. Let’s leave it at that, then. I don’t know. It’s not my job. But she’s right. Obama has gone out of his way to try to tell people that ISIS is not Islam and they’re not Muslims. Nah, he doesn’t want anybody making that connection! Don’t be confused. They’re not the same thing. He’s hell-bent on people thinking that.