×

Rush Limbaugh

For a better experience,
download and use our app!

The Rush Limbaugh Show Main Menu

Listen to it Button

RUSH: Ted Cruz, apparently, has had enough. He has taken off the gloves and he is just pounding Trump as a pathological, psychological liar. And it comes after Trump actually said that Cruz’s dad met with Lee Harvey Oswald before Oswald assassinated JFK. That story originally ran in the National Enquirer, I think back in March. Nobody picked it up because it’s kooky. It’s absurd. But Trump brought it up yesterday, or maybe this morning. I don’t know the timeline exactly. We got a sound bite coming up of it.

And that may just have been the piece de resistance, because Cruz has just, just unloaded on Trump today. Let’s get started with this. By the way, some interesting stats coming up about this primary here today versus other primaries in the Republican Party and what Indiana has at stake today. And I think all Indiana voters are very, very much aware what’s at stake today. They know they can prolong this by giving it to Cruz. They can end it by giving it to Trump.


I think there has been enough media coverage here that the people of Indiana we’re gonna know what they want. We’re gonna know whether they want this thing to go on or whether they want this thing to be done and over with and go on to the next stage by way of the vote tonight. More on that just a second here. It was this morning on Fox & Friends, Donald Trump speaking with Ainsley Earhardt, who said, “Ted Cruz’s father says people should vote with the body of Christ, and that needs to vote for his son. Do you think that resonates, Mr. Trump?”

TRUMP: His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald’s being, you know, shot. This is ridiculous. What is this, right prior to his being shot, and nobody even brings it up. They donÂ’t even talk about that. That was reported, and nobody talks about it. What was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death, before the shooting? It’s horrible.

RUSH: All right, now, I know that there are several Trumpists who are gonna believe this and they’re gonna defend it, like this brain-dead Trump supporter that Cruz crossed the street to talk to yesterday. Boy, if there was ever a big, red stop sign that says STOP and DON’T DO IT, it was yesterday. On… Well, what Cruz is trying to do… He wasn’t trying to persuade that idiot Trump voter. He was trying to use the opportunity here to go viral on social media with a substantive issue response to this brain-dead Trumpists.

It didn’t work out, ’cause the audio wasn’t very good. You couldn’t hear much of what was going on. All I could hear was the idiot Trumpists going, “Trump! Trump! Trump! Lyin’ Ted! Lyin’ Ted! Lyin’ Ted!” Of course, it’s what the media wanted everybody to hear. Of course it didn’t have the desired effect. Trump… Before we get to Cruz, Trump had another endorsement yesterday. The famous Lou Holtz released a video — Trump’s Twitter feed did — of the Lou Holtz endorsement, and this is what that sounded like…

HOLTZ: I wholeheartedly endorse Donald Trump as the next president of the United States. There are nothing but winners in Indiana. The main reason I’m endorsing him: I have played his golf course and stayed in his hotel. He does nothing but go first class on everything. He wants his country to be first class as well.


RUSH: Well, there you go. The long-standing coach of the Fighting Irish: “I’ve played Trump’s golf courses and I’ve stayed in Trump’s hotels, and it’s first class all the way.” So you have there another Trump endorsement from another Indiana hero, Lou Holtz. All right, moving on from Trump, attempting to get traction on this idea that… You know what? You know what else? I’ll tell you something: This idiotic claim that Cruz is the Zodiac Killer. Now, this is a sign of how far gone things are in America.

Somebody puts it out there that Cruz… That started as a joke on Comedy Central. It started as a joke on the Comedy Central, by the guy that called Obama the slang N-word? Larry Wilmore started this? That Ted Cruz is the Zodiac. And do you know, folks, that there was a poll somewhere, and 38% of the people in the poll believed it? Thirty-eight percent believed that Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer! Ted Cruz was born in 1970. The Zodiac Killer started killing in the 1960s. So Ted Cruz is not even born.

And his wife’s having to answer this garbage. Heidi’s having to answer this garbage. “I can assure you my husband is not the Zodiac Killer.” I thought, “Well, here we go. Christine O’Donnell, ‘I want to tell everybody, I’m not a witch.'” “Look, I’ve known Ted for a long time, and he’s not the Zodiac Killer. Of course he’s not the Zodiac Killer, and his dad was nowhere near Lee Harvey Oswald before Oswald pulled the trigger.” They say Cruz is the liar? (interruption) No, his dad’s not the Zodiac Killer, either. Don’t go…

His dad was in Canada at the time, I think. His dad’s not the Zodiac Killer. Snerdley’s trying to stoke the flames here. This is absurd. This is just totally absurd. And, meanwhile, everybody, says, “Lyin’ Ted! Lyin’ Ted!” Meanwhile, Trump’s out there talking about how the Zodiac Killer! Trump’s not, but his campaign is spreading that word, making Heidi Cruz answer it, and then this business that dad had been consulting Lee Harvey Oswald, and, “Why is nobody talking about it?” So here’s Cruz.

This in Evansville, Indiana, this morning. Three sound bites. It was a little press conference. I think it was at a diner. I’m not sure. Doesn’t all this stuff happen at diners now in primaries? One reason to keep your diner open, you know, is you make your bundle every two years when the campaigns roll into town. So it was a Q&A with members of the media. It’s about Cruz’s dad, Rafael Cruz, and here’s Ted responding to that allegation that his dad had something to do with Lee Harvey Oswald. It’s just mind-boggling here…

CRUZ: Donald Trump alleges that my dad was involved in assassinating JFK. This is nuts. This is not a reasonable position. This is just kooky. And while I’m at it, I guess I should go ahead and admit: Yes, my dad killed JFK; he is secretly Elvis, and Jimmy Hoffa is buried in his backyard. The National Enquirer is tabloid trash. But it’s run by his good friend, David Pecker, the CEO, who has endorsed Donald Trump. And so the National Enquirer has become his hit piece that he uses to smear anybody and everybody.

RUSH: Yeah, well, fine. Say what you want. The danger is, you know, how many of these brain-dead Trumpists running around here believe this stuff? Thirty-eight percent believe he’s the Zodiac killer. I forget the poll sample. I don’t have it at the tip of my fingers. I can’t recall the… The National Enquirer article, it was published on April 20. You know what? It’s based on a photo that the Enquirer’s photo expert says that it looks like Cruz’s dad. It’s a photo of somebody that looks like Cruz’s dad talking to Lee Harvey Oswald.

Cruz’s father was in New Orleans at the time — which of course, you know, New Orleans has a connection to the JFK assassination, one of the… No, Jack Ruby was in Dallas. The New Orleans connection, I forget the guy’s name. No, not the Mafia guy. Some other New Orleans connection, one of the other conspiracy theories that never panned out. It was bogus. Anyway, Rafael Cruz was over there. Here’s the next Cruz sound bite from this morning — just moments ago, really — in Evansville.

CRUZ: This man is a pathological liar. He doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth. His response is to accuse everybody else of lying. The man cannot tell the truth, but he combines it with being a narcissist — a narcissist at a level I don’t think this country’s ever seen.

RUSH: I don’t know about that.

CRUZ: Donald Trump is such a narcissist that Barack Obama looks at him and says, “Dude, what’s your problem?”

RUSH: I’m not so sure about that. There’s a close call there. Obama’s… And here’s the final bite. This is Trump… As I say, the gloves are off and, I think, the frustration level has peaked here, and this is Cruz with Trump as amoral and a serial philanderer.


CRUZ: I say pathological ’cause I actually think Donald, if you hooked him up to a lie detector test, he could say one thing in the morning, one thing at noon, and one thing in the evening — all contradictory — and he’d pass the liar detector test each time. Whatever lie he’s telling at that minute, he believes it. But the man is utterly amoral. Morality does not exist for him. One of the lies he engages in… Look, Donald Trump is a serial philanderer — and he boasts about it. This is not a secret. He’s proud of being a serial philanderer.

RUSH: And Senator Cruz has also been traveling the state of Indiana on the stump, and he’s been making the point when he talks to these Trump supporters (paraphrased), “You know, he’s not gonna build the wall, you guys. He’s not. He’s not gonna send the illegals back home for good. I don’t know what you guys believe, but there isn’t gonna be a wall. He’s not gonna build a wall. He can’t build a wall.” He says… Cruz is telling them, “Terrain on the border is not conducive to building a wall. Mexico is not gonna pay for a wall.

“There isn’t gonna be a wall — and furthermore Trump’s gonna grant amnesty.” This is what Cruz has been trying to get through people’s heads, and Cruz supporters have been saying this in their efforts to promote Cruz. They have been saying this in recent days and weeks as well, that Trump’s lying about it. Now to me, that’s all part of a campaign. People might start wondering about it now. I mean, you’re really out there when you say that Cruz’s dad was with Lee Harvey Oswald and Cruz is the Zodiac Killer.

That kind of thing could start make you questioning other things that you heard, depending on your degree of devotion to the Trump campaign. But here we are in Indiana, and it would be very hard to say with any accuracy that most of the people voting in Indiana don’t really know what’s going on. Quite the opposite. I think the people of Indiana are very, very much aware of what the result tonight in Indiana mean. By the way, did you…? I just ran across this, and I had missed it. Are you aware that the experts expecting Hillary to lose tonight in Indiana and (where else?) West Virginia, that she’s expected to lose both of these places?

More on that as the program unfolds. But my point is I think the people of Indiana know that they can keep this going or they can end it. They can vote for Cruz and keep this thing going and maybe — maybe — create circumstances that would lead to a contested convention. If they vote Trump, they’re essentially saying they want this to end because there has to be enough situational awareness now, with all the media coverage and all the attention. We got a full week of nothing but Indiana in the news.


So the people voting today have to know what’s going on, other than just which candidate they support. The conventional wisdom is that if Trump wins and that he wins big, that kind of like ends it for Cruz. Not Cruz is gonna get out, but just that it — in a realistic sense — ends it. And of course, that calls into question what the late deciders do. I think if the late deciders go Trump, you’re gonna see everybody claiming that the people of Indiana have made a statement, not just for their state, but for the Republican Party, that they think it’s time to end this and unify or whatever.

If late deciders go for Cruz, then Republicans in Indiana want this to go on. They want the contest to continue. If they vote for Cruz, it means there’s gonna be some doubt about Trump, some insecurity about it, and they don’t want it to end yet. And they have to know that if they vote for Cruz — if the majority here tonight votes for Cruz — that’s going to extend this. It may not result in Cruz winning, don’t misunderstand. But it’s gonna extend it. ‘Cause I think everybody knows the stakes, or the vast majority of people know the stakes.

Turnout, supposedly, is pretty high. So this isn’t just about Indiana so far as Indiana Republicans and their preferences are concerned. My perception is that, in the minds of Indiana Republicans, this is it. This is where they make the statement of what they think ought to happen in the campaign, not just whether they believe in one or the other of the candidates. Now, just a little, brief history lesson. Because, again, many people think that things are happening in this campaign that are unprecedented.

And, of course, that means there might be some skullduggery going on. There might be some controversy, might be some conspiracies happening out there. People may have forgotten this. Do you realize Mitt Romney did not get close to wrapping it up in 2012 until May the 29th? It was May the 29th that Romney secured, and received enough delegates to clinch the party’s nomination with the inclusion of unpledged delegates. Meaning he didn’t… He hadn’t received enough delegates by virtue of the vote on May 29th.

But the unpledged over there (our version of superdelegates), he could count on to put him over the top. It really wasn’t until the June 5th California primary that Romney wrapped up the Republican nomination. How many of you remember that? People forget. Rick Santorum was the leader in the clubhouse for the longest time in 2012. Romney pulled it out in the end, but it took all the way until June. People this year act like, “God, it’s gone on long enough! We gotta stop this. We can’t take it anymore!” Well, 2012 was nothing like this. Because the covers were not pulled back enough to show this kind of sausage-making detail.

So we’ll see what happens here in Indiana.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We’re gonna start with Kelly in Plymouth, Indiana. Welcome. It’s great to have you with us. Hi.

CALLER: Hello?

RUSH: Hi.

CALLER: Hi. I want to say, I think you’re wonderful and it is a real privilege for me to speak with you.

RUSH: Thank you. I appreciate that. Do I sense a “but” coming?

CALLER: There is a “but” coming.

RUSH: Okay.


CALLER: Just one quick comment and I’m gonna tell you my respectful disagreement with you.

RUSH: Okay.

CALLER: I have to believe that those disrespectful children were shipped in from elsewhere, because I just don’t think those were Indiana children that were swearing and disrespectful to Mr. Cruz. My disagreement with you is, you started off the show with your assessment of Indiana voters and your words were that we were wanting to put an end to this; that that’s why we’re going to the polls and Indiana just wants to put an end to this. I don’t think that that’s the case at all. It is not the case for me or for my husband. For the first time, we’ve been told that our votes are going to make a difference and we truly have a choice in candidates. And in my voting history, that’s never been the case. It’s already been decided when it comes to us. So I just disagree with your comments.

RUSH: Well, I didn’t mean it… Let me go back and put this in context as I said it. What I meant was that the voters in Indiana are all profoundly, supremely informed because it’s been nothing but a week of intense media attention on the campaign, and there are two things here. Indiana people going to vote know that if they vote for Cruz, they’re voting to keep this going and to extend this to a contested convention. That’s the only way to do this. If they vote for Trump, then they’re essentially saying they want the campaign to end.

They want a nominee decided. They want to unify; get started here on beating Hillary. It’s not that they want to end the process ’cause they’re tired of the process. It’s because if they’ve… How can this be not true? If the majority of people vote for Trump, there are a whole bunch of things they’re saying: They like Trump. They think Trump can beat Hillary. But also, “Let’s end this,” meaning the campaign, “and move forward.” How did you…? Did you take this to mean that I think Indiana voters are tired of this and want it just over?

CALLER: That’s the way I took it. I mean, quoting you was that we want to put an end to this, and I just didn’t feel that was a fair assessment.

RUSH: Well, by “put an end to it,” I mean this ongoing, never ending, prolonged battle that’s gonna lead to a contested convention. Some don’t want that and some do. And if you vote for Trump today, I mean, there’s a bunch reasons you vote for Trump. You like Trump; you want Trump to win. You think Trump can beat Hillary and you think that’s the objective. But you also want… I mean, you gotta know. My whole point is, you gotta know what a vote for Trump means. If Cruz loses this, it’s over.

CALLER: I guess I have hope in the people in Indiana.

RUSH: What do you hope they do?

CALLER: I sure hope they don’t vote for Trump.

RUSH: Okay.

CALLER: I think this is just a —

RUSH: That’s why you got offended, ’cause you want this to go on, because you want to go to a contested convention because you want Cruz to win because you don’t want Trump. And that’s what your vote means today.

CALLER: I think if we vote our conscience and our morals, and we vote not just to put an end to it, not to be fed up with it, but to look at the issues and the people. That’s the way I’ve always voted.

RUSH: Well, I’m sorry you misunderstood. I meant the exact opposite of being tired of the issues and tired of the campaign and wanting it to all end and go back to watching Leave It To Beaver. I didn’t mean that. I just meant, “Can we get a winner? Can we get this over with and done so we can move on? Because the next stage of this is beating Hillary.” Whatever follows all this, that’s the ultimate goal is to beat Hillary, and my only…

I was trying to praise the sophistication of Indiana voters to know that the result of their votes today will mean one of two things. If Trump wins this and the delegates to go along with this vote, Cruz is already 400-some odd delegates behind. If he doesn’t win this, his last hope of a contested convention probably goes to the wayside, ’cause this is gonna put Trump — combined with California, and he’s way up out there now — over the 1,237 before we even get to the convention. My only point is, you people in Indiana know this.

CALLER: Right. Yep. Thank you.

RUSH: I was not… I’m glad… If you took it that way, you’re probably not the only one. I did not mean this is as an insult. I was noting the high degree of awareness and knowledge and sophistication of the Indiana voters because of a full week’s saturated media focus on this. Everybody knows what the various outcomes possible tonight mean. Now if Cruz loses, I don’t expect him to get out. No, I don’t see it.


If Trump wins this tonight, coupled with his way-out-in-front lead in California and the momentum coming off the five-state sweep in New England last week — the Northeastern states — momentum is just added and added to the Trump campaign. And it’s not gonna be any real doubt of Trump’s wrapping this up. All I’m saying is that people that vote in Indiana have to be aware of this. But if you think that I thought the main reason people in Indiana would vote today would be to end it or not end it, those are just the two practical results of what happens tonight.

And I’m of the opinion that the people in Indiana know it. But it doesn’t in any way predict the outcome. I have no idea what the outcome’s gonna be. The polling data is all over the place in the state. Polling data is just… It’s hard to get a read for it. So all you have to look at other kind of tealeaves and momentum. That’s why the stuff that happened yesterday and the day before matters. You know, a 10-year old kid saying, “You suck!”

It doesn’t actually help the momentum, and then this Rafael Cruz was there with JFK? Or with Oswald and JFK? I mean, 38% believing Cruz is a stupid, stupid Zodiac Killer? I mean, those things all are facts in creating momentum, attitudes, impressions. And the people of Indiana fully aware of all this. I got another one in North Little Rock, Arkansas. David, you’re next. It’s great to have you. Hi.

CALLER: Rush, this is a great day, a great honor.

RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much.

CALLER: My question is, have not Trump and his supporters pretty much acted like the liberal media and the liberals in smearing and innuendo and half-truths on our candidates?

RUSH: Well, I gotta be very careful how I answer this, because you may be seeking have me say something that would equate Trump with the liberals and the left-wing media in terms of protecting. I think this is just what happens in campaigns. The things that have happened in this campaign, in this week, are really outrageous and unfortunate. I’m not gonna get drawn into saying that outsiders are acting like left-wing liberals. You’re not gonna catch me on that. The objective is to keep focused on Hillary Clinton as far as I’m concerned.

And I’m not gonna say or do anything here that would be allowed to be misinterpreted into thinking I think people on our side are worse than she is, or just like liberal Democrats. I know what you mean, that stuff is being said that’s untrue and they’re totally making it up, and that’s what you equate with the left and how they operate. I get your point. I guess my real reaction is I don’t think that’s the correct reaction to all of this. But I’m not trying to talk you out of it if that’s your thought.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This