RUSH: We have the contretemps between Ted Cruz and the Trumpster. To put all this in context, bring it into focus, the Trumpster got mad at something Cruz did, and Cruz didn’t do it. A PAC published a photo of the wife of the Trumpster, Melania, from 15 years ago in GQ, back in her modeling days, and it was, ah, kind of risque. She wasn’t wearing much, if anything.

Well, this offended the Trumpster, and so the Trumpster warned Cruz to be careful or he would spill the beans on Cruz’s wife, Heidi. Everybody said, “What are the beans? What’s there to spill about Heidi Cruz?” And it turns out there was something. It would not have amounted to much of anything. It was something from 15 years ago, but it never came out. It never really mattered much because the Trumpster fired back with a tweet of his own. Side-by-side photos of Heidi Cruz looking like she was mad at somebody, her mouth is wide open, she’s screaming at something, right next to a picture of the Trump’s wife, Melania, looking like she looks.

And the Trumpster says: “No need to spill the beans. The picture says it all.” And I have to tell you — and Mr. Snerdley confirmed this with me today. For the first time a number of women — the Megyn Kelly didn’t evoke much of a reaction from women. The insults of some of the other women, like Carly Fiorina and her face, no big deal. But this one for some reason has resonated with a lot of women. And Trump has a gender gap already. Details coming up. Don’t know how serious it is, but it’s said to be a serious gender gap, serious problem with women even before this. And this side-by-side picture of Heidi Cruz next to Melania with the tweet: “No need to spill the beans. Picture says a thousand words.” For some reason all that other stuff about women didn’t raise a hackle, but this one has.

Has it with you? I have to tell you, I’m curious about it. I mean, let’s review this. (imitating Trump) “She had blood coming out of — well, everywhere.” I don’t know. Hey, you know what, no big deal. It’s funny, hardy-har-har. She kind of deserved it ’cause of the way she treated Trumpster. I mean, this is the reaction people had. Then Carly Fiorina. (imitating Trump) “Who would want to elect somebody with a face like that,” Trump said. No big deal.

What is it about this? Is it that there’s a picture? Is that what it is? I mean, you have to admit here, folks, that some of the things — and I’ve got my objectivity cap on here. I’m just reviewing all this. Some of the things that Trump has said about women prior to this Heidi Cruz thing, I mean, do they not measure up? Are they not just as egregious? Are they not just as over the line? But they didn’t seem to be harmful. Women didn’t seem to be particularly upset over any of that, not like this. This is in its own league.

And then — I don’t know if I got the timeline exactly right, but somewhere in the midst of all this a very hot rumor starts percolating out there across the Internet on Twitter and Facebook. What? What now? That Cruz has been catting around out there with five different mistresses. It turns out the National Enquirer is the source for this. There isn’t any story yet. It’s just scuttlebutt out there, that The Enquirer has the data, has the information, sitting on it. Everybody says, “Wait, wait, wait, wait, Ted Cruz? Five mistresses? Ted Cruz?” People can’t imagine Ted Cruz ever taking his clothes off even to go to bed. Am I right? Five? And then we find out that it’s not being given a lot of credence out there on the Internet because it just sounds so incredulous. And if The Enquirer has this news now, where was it a month ago, where was it two months ago? Why now?

And then, ladies and gentlemen, New York Magazine. “Donald Trump’s Alliance with the National Enquirer,” is the headline of the story. Oh, and now this is really getting good. It’s an October 2015 article from last year. Just last October, last year. “Trump and Enquirer CEO David Pecker…” Is that not a great name for the guy that runs the National Enquirer, by the way?

“Trump and Enquirer CEO David Pecker,” that’s P-e-c-k-e-r, David Pecker, “have been friends for years. ‘They’re very close,’ said a source close to the Enquirer. In July 2013, Trump even tweeted that Pecker should become CEO of Time magazine, which at the time was being spun off from its corporate parent, Time Warner. ‘He’d make it exciting,'” Pecker. Pecker would make TIME magazine “exciting and win awards!”

So of all the things that have happened in this campaign — of all the things that people thought they would never, ever see in a presidential campaign, of all the things people thought they’d never hear in a presidential campaign — a lot of them go by with a ho-hum reaction. This thing comes along, the side-by-side picture of Heidi Cruz and Melania Trump. “No need to spill the beans. Picture says it all,” a thousand whatever, worth a thousand words. And for the first time that I’m aware of, women…

Now, by the way, let me acknowledge: I know there are a lot of you ladies, women in the audience that are pro-Cruz, and this is not the first time that you have been offended by Trump. It’s not the first time you’ve said so. We’re talking about people who heretofore we know who have looked the other way or been unmoved, didn’t seem to care, however you want to categorize it or describe it. This one has seemed to result, create reaction of a less than a favorable nature. So we don’t know where this is headed.

Of course, Cruz has for the second time now, responded in defiant defense of his wife. Remember the first time? We played the audio sound bite of him defending Heidi the first time, and we had a sound bite of Carol Costello on CNN laughing about it derisively. “Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha! Gotta defend the little woman! Ha, ha-ha-ha!” I’m sitting here thinking, “She’s a product of the modern feminist era. She’s a liberal media member. What is so worthy of mocking a man defending his wife? Is that not even supposed to happen?

“Are women so equal, are women so on their own that when they were offended, when they are impugned, when they are unfairly criticized, their husbands are not supposed to say anything? So that when their husbands do, we want to laugh at it and make fun of it?” It’s another thing I need to have explained to me. You know, when is it okay to defend your wife and when is it not? When will liberals appreciate you defending your wife and when will they make fun of you for doing it, and under what circumstances?

It doesn’t matter who you are when you defend your wife. But regardless, there she was snickering at it, laughing at Cruz, mocking him for defending “the little woman.” What? She’s a working woman. Heidi Cruz is exactly what the modern era of feminazis suggested all women should do. Heidi Cruz tried to do it all. Heidi Cruz believes you could do it all, and she set out to do it all, and she did. And she found out as she was doing it all that it was more than she wanted to do. But Heidi Cruz has accomplished a heck of a lot more than 95% of the women in the media reporting on her and making fun of her and mocking her.

It is just classic.

It’s constant Drive-By Media people making fun of and laughing at gallantry, laughing at chivalry, laughing at valor. Then you have Bill and Hillary with Bill doing what he was doing and Hillary blaming it on the right-wing conspiracy and so forth, and there was no condemnation of what Bill Clinton did. There was no condemnation of the way Hillary reacted to any of it, and Hillary was responsible for — Hillary was involved in — all of the “bimbo eruption” stuff. But I know, I know. They’re liberals. They’re Democrats.

Therefore, they’re protected.

I get that. I just look at this stuff that’s happening. So much of it is inexplicable to me, given how previous similar examples have barely gotten any kind of reaction at all.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I just got another e-mail. They’ve been coming in all morning long. And look, I know it’s all anecdotal, folks. Don’t… I’m not one of these people that tries to tell you what the country’s doing based on what my e-mail tells me or even callers to the program. But I’m just telling you, there’s been an inordinate volume of this today. Another guy says, “My mother was all in for Trump until this,” ’til this Heidi Cruz thing. It’s still… Yeah, I have to tell you, the Heidi Cruz is what it is, but some of the stuff that came before, it’s not beanbag.

I mean, there’s been… (interruption) Really? You think…? (interruption) I’m just confused, that’s all. Not… (interruption) Oh, is that it? “You can get away with criticizing certain women because they are unlikable, dislikable.” So if they’re unlikable in the first place and Trump has to hit ’em, fine and dandy. But Heidi Cruz is not dislikable or unlikable and therefore it’s over the top? (interruption) Is that what it is? (interruption) Okay! (interruption) No, I’m not arguing. I’m trying to understand. I’m the last guy who claims to understand how some people think.

And I will take all the information I can get on this. But this seems to have hit a nerve where others have not. But Heidi Cruz particularly. I mean, again, I think this bears repeating. I will never get over Carol Costello mocking here, mocking Ted Cruz for defending his wife. What if it were you, Carol? I don’t even know if you have a husband. I don’t even know if he’s manly enough to defend you if you ever came under assault. But would you laugh at him if he did?

Would you make fun of your own husband if he defended you when somebody came after you? I don’t understand. Here’s Heidi Cruz, who is a role model for what the modern era of feminism. Take the ideology out of feminism. She obviously thought she could have it all: motherhood, career — I mean, stellar career, top-of-the-ladder career — marriage, motherhood, the whole ball of wax. They laugh at her — and, meanwhile, women who haven’t done 10% of what she’s done, you can’t talk about. You’re not allowed to categorize or whatever.

It’s a dichotomy.

It fascinates me.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: So we got a full roster of calls and I had chosen the first one I wanted to take, I told Snerdley tell the guy to get ready, we’re coming to him, and he hung up. So I’m gonna tell you what the guy was gonna say. Now, I didn’t talk to him so I’m just going off what Snerdley’s summary of his comment was. Where was he from, was he West Virginia? Is that where? Not that it matters. I just want you to know. The guy was gonna point out, “You know, okay, fine, I understand that this Heidi Cruz and Melania Trump thing doesn’t look good for Trump, but you gotta understand something.”

The guy was gonna say, “Trump doesn’t have a PAC. All these other guys have PACs, which means they’ve got an out. They’ve got an excuse. They’ve got a mechanism whereby they can say, ‘I didn’t do it, I don’t know what was going on.’ But Trump, he’s a real man, Trump doesn’t have a PAC, so Trump doesn’t shift blame to anybody else. When something goes wrong, Trump takes the blame himself like a real man.” And that was gonna be the guy’s point. (interruption) What, is this basically the same thing? Okay, somebody wants to make that point I guess in Las Vegas here. This is Wendy. Wendy, glad you called. You’re up first on Open Line Friday. Welcome to the program.

CALLER: Hey, Rush. I’m so happy to talk to you, and keep doing what you’re doing.

RUSH: Yes, ma’am.

CALLER: You’re one of the most objective hosts out there.

RUSH: Thank you very much.

CALLER: I love it.

RUSH: Appreciate that.

CALLER: I have a bit of a problem with Mr. Cruz. You know, he didn’t put out the ad in Utah that, you know, Liz Mair and them, of Melania. He was more than happy to take all the votes that it got him in Utah, and I never once heard him —

RUSH: See?

CALLER: — defend Mrs. Trump. But yet, you know, he reaps the benefits, but he doesn’t take any of the blame. And he never has to. He can always afford to take the high road, because he’s got all his attack dogs out there doing the work for him. You got Glenn Beck three hours a day bashing Trump, and he’s made hay out of Mrs. Trump’s modeling career. His supporters, the same thing. These photographs of Mrs. Trump have been out there —

RUSH: Okay, so let me see if I understand what you’re saying. A PAC for Ted Cruz puts up a photo of Melania Trump practically nude that offends Donald, causes him to react. Cruz can then say, “Wait a minute, my PAC did that. I had nothing to do with that. We’re not allowed by law to be in contact with the PAC. I had nothing to do with it.” But your point is, the PAC still did it, and Cruz gets to benefit from it.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: And with a built-in excuse to keep his reputation up saying, “I didn’t do it. I had nothing to do with it. I would not have approved of it had I known.” Meanwhile, Trump does not have one of those. Trump doesn’t have a PAC. So everything Trump does he faces squarely and it’s on his shoulders, he makes no excuses, and he’s a real man, right?

CALLER: Yes. Yes. And Cruz, I wouldn’t debate him, either. I mean, look at his background. Look what he’s done his whole life? And I even had a body language expert confirm this for me because there was always something that I just didn’t like about Cruz. And trust me, I tried to like him.

RUSH: You said you wouldn’t debate Cruz, either.

CALLER: No, I would not.

RUSH: Why? Because he’s so good at it?

CALLER: Yes. It doesn’t matter if everything he says is true or not. I knit, right? I knit and I cook, and he could debate me on blueberry pie and put me away. I’d be at such a disadvantage.

RUSH: Okay. So Trump is wise to avoid that confrontation because there’s nobody better than Cruz at it, essentially?

CALLER: Yes. And that doesn’t mean that Cruz is right about everything.

RUSH: And it doesn’t mean he’s more qualified than Trump ’cause a real man, because Trump doesn’t have a PAC.

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: Now, let me ask you this. Forget the PAC angle and all of that. What do you think of the tweet with the photo that Trump posted, the side by side photo of Heidi Cruz and Melania?

CALLER: I didn’t like it, necessarily, but I look at it as defending his wife. And, you know, he’s mad about it. I would be too, but of course, you know Ted, he quotes movie lines.

RUSH: But Ted had nothing to do with it, by your own admission, just like Trump says —

CALLER: Well, it doesn’t mean he didn’t know about it.

RUSH: Now, wait a second, just like Trump says he’s not responsible for what anybody in his audience does vis-a-vis beating up on these protesters, you can’t hold him responsible. You just said you can’t hold Cruz response. His PAC did it.

CALLER: Well, Trump gets vilified every day.

RUSH: Right, he does.

CALLER: In other words, he has to take responsibility for what your supporters do, and they do what you tell ’em, and somehow Cruz gets to walk away.

RUSH: Okay. Let me ask you this. I know you’re a Trump supporter. I’m asking these questions so that I can learn.

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: I’m putting this in the hopper here to learn. Do not infer a tone of criticism or anything else.

CALLER: Oh, no.

RUSH: When Trump said what he said about Megyn Kelly, either any of those things or all of them combined, why do you think those comments did not really cause Trump a problem compared to this instance with the photo of Heidi Cruz and Melania, which obviously has? This is different. There’s some Trump people that have problems with this. Why didn’t they have problems with any of the other stuff that had happened with Trump and Megyn Kelly, for example?

CALLER: Well, Megyn Kelly started it right off. I mean, she did not give context to that Rosie O’Donnell incident, you know, the show that led up to Trump saying what he said. She immediately, “Well, you insult women, call them fat —

RUSH: She — (crosstalk)

CALLER: — pigs,” and I didn’t see it that way at all.

RUSH: Right. But she’s also in the arena, right? You say she started it, she’s in the arena, she got the ball rolling, she insulted Trump.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: And so when that happens then anything that comes back at her, fair game; is that right?

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: Okay. Now I don’t want to put words in your mouth. Is that what you think?

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: Okay.

CALLER: She was trying to do a “gotcha” and it backfired. And so, you know, too bad, too sad.

RUSH: Okay, does this worry you? You’re a Trump supporter? You obviously have seen or are aware that some people are a little bothered by this one. Are you worried about it?

CALLER: Well, yeah, and it bothers me, too, on both sides. You know, I don’t like either one of them going after the other’s wife, but the Cruz supporter seemed to be kind of morally superior —

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: — I guess, because this photograph of Melania Trump has been out for a long time. And I’ve had people sending it to me on Facebook, “Oh, did you see this? Is this who you want to be our first lady?” And this was months ago. So they have been using this, the Cruz supporters having using this for a long time. This is not something that just happened last week. And so then, you know, an anti-Trump group uses it in an ad in Utah to get votes, you know, trying to be morally —

RUSH: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand.

CALLER: Yeah. Getting the moral votes. It just rubs me the wrong way.

RUSH: So you don’t see the day where maybe for the good of the party and the possibility of actually winning the election that Trump and Cruz could bury the hatchet and form a unity ticket?

CALLER: Well, I wish that they would, because there’d be no stopping them. But I see Trump supporters that if Cruz is the nominee, they’re gonna vote for ’em, but I don’t see that coming —

RUSH: Now, Pat Buchanan, Pat Buchanan was on TV last night. I talked to Pat Buchanan for the next issue — it’s out now — of the Limbaugh Letter. It was a fascinating interview, and he’s very excited by what Trump’s doing. It mirrors much of what Buchanan was trying to do in 1992, 1996. But Buchanan said that if Trump ends up with a majority of delegates, but not enough, not 1,237, if they take the nomination away from him, that Trump supporters are leaving. They will not vote. They’ll take their ball and go home, and he wouldn’t blame them.

He said the party better be very careful here. And I heard this, and I said, “Pat, this is what the party wants. The party is prepared.” I got this story here in the Politico. They’re talking about how they’re ready to vote for Hillary. These establishment types are ready to vote for Hillary rather than vote Trump. And if Trump is denied this nomination with a majority delegates, with a plurality of delegates, if he’s denied and if Buchanan’s right and people like you say screw it and walk away, leave the party, don’t vote, that guarantees Hillary. I’m telling you, there are some in the establishment that would love for that to happen. ‘Cause in their minds that would save the party.

CALLER: I’m absolutely voting for the nominee.

RUSH: You are, no matter what?

CALLER: Oh, yeah.

RUSH: Even if it’s Cruz, you’d vote for the nominee?

CALLER: Oh, yeah, I would vote —

RUSH: What if the nominee’s Jeb? What if the nominee’s Scott Walker? What if they pull strings and give Paul Ryan the nomination?

CALLER: I was originally for Scott Walker. I was originally — before he announced.

RUSH: You are a regular listener here, then.

CALLER: I am.

RUSH: Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am.

CALLER: I’ve been listening since 1989.

RUSH: Appreciate that. Really do.

CALLER: I wouldn’t miss it.

RUSH: Wendy, I appreciate it. I really, really do. I have to go because I’m out of time, but I really appreciate your frankness here.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush. I love you.

RUSH: Have great one, same here.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: By the way, there’s an important distinction for Donald Trump on this PAC that ran the ad in Utah of the question of Mrs. Trump, Melania Trump. That was not a pro-Cruz PAC. Such things are not possible. Candidates are not allowed… No candidates are legally allowed to coordinate with Political Action Committees, and therefore pro this, pro that… What this PAC actually is, is an anti-Trump PAC, and this PAC will be running ads anti-Trump that might look like they’re pro-someone else. Depending on where they’re run, they could appear that they are advocating for Cruz.

But this is an important distinction to make out there that this PAC in Utah — well, that ran the ad in Utah — is an anti-Trump pack. A candidate is not… (interruption) They’re shouting, “He didn’t denounce it! He didn’t denounce it!” Meaning Cruz. You can’t have any contract. You can’t tell a PAC what to do or not. You start doing that and the FEC is gonna come at you. You cannot tell a PAC what to do or not do. That’s the first caller’s point, the one that hung up. The first caller that hung up was gonna say that a PAC is the greatest out a candidate has, ’cause you can’t talk about ’em.

So a PAC can do a candidate’s dirty work and the candidate can’t say one word about it, legally. If there is any indication there’s been coordination, that will get everybody in a lot of trouble — lasting trouble — in terms of a campaign. So coming out and denouncing it, that’s even risky, because that sends a message to the PAC, “Hey, the candidate doesn’t want you doing that,” and you can’t. No coordination whatsoever is permitted. Now, there are a lot of people like that first caller that hung up, I’m sure. If I had a chance to interrogate the guy, I’m sure he’s one of many who believe, “Don’t lie to us! Don’t try to fool us!

“We know that candidates coordinate with the PACs all the time. You trying to tell us that the Democrats don’t coordinate with their PACs? Who are you kidding?” I know a lot of people think that’s all part of what the establishment is able to pull off. But it’s not allowed. There’s no connection. A candidate would be creating a lot of trouble for him- or herself to acknowledge the PAC, either approval or disavowing it.

Here’s Gail in Birmingham, Alabama. Hi, Gail. You’re next. It’s great to have you.

CALLER: Well, hello. Nice talking to you again.

RUSH: Thank you very much.

CALLER: I’ve been watching this, listening to this for hours over all the media, and I’m a little troubled because I see the value of Cruz, and I understand, if it is correct, it’s an anti-Trump ad. But Cruz took advantage of it. I listened to your last caller, and you know, you didn’t have to do that. It seems to be a pattern of Mr. Cruz. He’s a lawyer.

RUSH: Wait. It’s my hearing. I want to make sure I hear you right. You say he took advantage of it and he didn’t have to do…? What do you mean?

CALLER: Well, he did take advantage, in the same way he treated dear Dr. Carson. And it’s a pattern. I hate to say this. I’m a lawyer and I don’t want to say unkind things about lawyers but as a general rule, you have to be cautious because they’re rather… They’re rather… I don’t want to use the word “slippery,” but they certainly don’t —

RUSH: While you use the word “slippery.”

CALLER: Well, I use the word that you take advantage of a situation to get on top of another and sort of prevail.

RUSH: What is it? Who got top of who? What are you adding on this?

CALLER: Well, I’m adding to this all that Cruz had to do was to immediately call Mr. Trump and say, “Mr. Trump, this is absolutely wrong. I want to stand with you. I want a press conference. I want us both to denounce that PAC. You have a lovely wife, and that woman is a mother of a 10-year-old child, and I don’t condone it. I want to stand with you and denounce it.” A good man would have done that. And —

RUSH: Now, what do you think Trump would have done with a call like that?

CALLER: You know, I don’t know. Knowing —

RUSH: “I just got a call from Lyin’ Ted who said he had nothing to do with it. Does he think I’m a fool?”

CALLER: If I were counsel to Mr. Cruz, then, I would have established that he would go… Instead of doing the foolishness, pointing his finger into a camera and acting like he’s defending his wife, he should have gotten on camera and say, “I immediately denounce it. I’m going to call Mr. Trump and say I denounce it. I stand with him. I praise his wife for her career. We had nothing to do with it.” He could have done that, and he would have saved the day for himself. But 10 points against Mr. Cruz for not doing the right thing.

RUSH: I cannot believe this. (laughing) This is… You’re good. I have to tell you, you… (laughing) It’s Cruz’s wife that’s been maligned, and you’re calling and telling us how Cruz could have prevented it, so 10 points against Cruz.

CALLER: Oh, absolutely. Cruz could have pulled this off and looked magnanimous. Had he called me, I would have given him that advice. Don’t you go down that road with Mr. Trump, because Mr. Trump seems to have a habit of trying to one-up. If you do something, he does something more dynamic, and neither woman was treated properly, and —

RUSH: Okay, so how do you hope this ends up?

CALLER: Well, I’m… I really would like to see both of them… I would like someone to have a temperament and maybe have a mediator like Dr. Carson, because those two need to get together, because I think the Republican establishment is what I fear, as an American. I fear what is going on in Washington with the Republicans —

RUSH: So you want…? Now, wait. I’m sorry. Gale, I’ve gotta get the last word in only ’cause we’re out of time here. You are so good. All of this somehow is Cruz’s fault. The ad was run against his wife, the insults, and it’s his fault — and now you want somebody who’s endorsed Trump to mediate between the two.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Well, I knew this was gonna happen. Now I am hearing from women who have no problem with what Trump did. See, I knew that was gonna happen. It’s standard operating procedure. I was not trying to engender it; I just know human nature. I mean, they’re rolling in here now. I mean, I’ve got, “It was, too, a pro-Cruz ad! That PAC, it said, ‘Support Cruz.’ You can’t more pro-Cruz than that. They’re lying about it!” And another one said, “Hey, these PACs are all establishment people. You better keep that in mind, Mr. Limbaugh, as you talk about all this.”

Right on.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Folks, I don’t want to present this as one-sided. I knew it would happen, too, when I opened the program mentioning that I’ve never seen this kind of a response in the campaign from women that I am seeing now over the Heidi Cruz/Melania Trump side-by-side photo tweet that Trump put out. Now I’ve got the women reacting to that, inundating me with, “Hey, I don’t care about it!

“I’ve not lost my support for Trump whatsoever. Doesn’t bother me! Heidi Cruz is part of the campaign.” Let me read you one: “At the risk of going against the narrative on your show today, Mr. Limbaugh — since you’re mentioning e-mails from women as a data point. Well, what hit a nerve with me, Mr. Limbaugh, was the BS, ‘It wasn’t me. It was my super PAC.’ Cruz-Melania ad. I thought Cruz’s counterpoint photo for photo was well deserved, and Trump’s response was the lowest level he uses.

“It wasn’t a retweet. It wasn’t even a tweet. And just so you know, Mr. Limbaugh, I am not a Cruz fan, to put it mildly.” And then she points out: “And for all of these people telling you that that ad was an anti-Trump ad and not pro-Cruz, go look at it. It says, ‘Support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.’ It was a pro-Cruz ad, Mr. Limbaugh.” Now, that’s… I mean, it contains data that is consistent with some of the e-mails I’m getting from women who do not want to be thought of as abandoning Trump. So I’m hearing it from all sides here.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

So the news today is problematic. I mean, it’s somewhat controversial for Cruz. I don’t think this National Enquirer — you never know what kind of life span something like this is gonna have. Are you sure there’s a story, or is it just an Internet rumor that they’re working it? (interruption) Oh, you’ve seen it? All right. Is it on their website? I don’t know. Here’s the problem. The Enquirer, they did break the John Edwards scandal, and they got somebody else’s sex scandal. (interruption) Yeah. Yeah, but that’s long ago. Jesse Jackson’s love child; everybody knew that.

But John Edwards, when nobody else wanted to go there, nobody else wanted to touch it, they did have that right in every detail. There’s one other. But then they’ve also been way wrong. They had a story that Obama had 12 mistresses; it’s only four. Just kidding. They had a story that Obama had 12 mistresses and there’s no backup for that whatsoever. They’ve shot wide and missed a number of times, too. I don’t know how much traction something like this is gonna get. We’ll see. Time will tell.

Robin in Toledo. You’re next. Glad you waited. Great to have you on Open Line Friday. Hello.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. Mega dittos from the John Kasich stronghold of Toledo, Ohio. So happy to speak with you.

RUSH: Thank you, thank you, from the John Kasich stronghold. We love those.

CALLER: Yes. I wanted to discuss what you had mentioned in your earlier segment about why women are so mad about the Melania Trump, Heidi Cruz thing that Trump had tweeted out.

RUSH: Hm-hm.

CALLER: And coming to you as someone who doesn’t participate in woman groupthink and as someone who has not necessarily been offended by anything Trump has done up to this point, I wanted to explain what I think is going on with this.

RUSH: Okay.

CALLER: And what I think is going on with this is relatability, in one word. Melania Trump took those pictures with the intended reason of having a worldwide audience. She sent those out to a magazine. The whole world was intended on seeing those pictures. So there shouldn’t be such an outrage that the world is now seeing these pictures and having opinions about it. They weren’t private photos. This was something with the intent for the world to see. The Heidi Cruz picture, there is not one woman in America that hasn’t had a bad picture taken of them and think, “Oh, gosh, I hope no one sees that. That looks terrible.” And people can relate to that. You know, women see that and say, “Oh, I would hate if somebody did that to me and sent out my worst photo to the whole world to see and make fun of.” And I think when Trump was —

RUSH: You know, Robin, I gotta tell you something, that is an excellent point. In fact, I don’t know too many women who do love photos of themselves, period.

CALLER: Exactly. And to have the worst photo of you possibly sent all over the world and made fun of. And you know, Trump’s minions on Twitter, they are just some vile — and, you know what, like I said, I don’t mind it because I understand what they’re doing. I understand the mindset that Trump is operating in, and it’s okay, but for a lot of people that is not okay.

RUSH: Okay, that’s a good distinction. That makes sense to me.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, the rapper and rock ‘n’ roll, R&B crooner Kanye West has said that he’s going to run for president in 2020. Now, as you know, Kanye West is married to Kim Kardashian, and we presume that in 2020 he will still be married to Kim Kardashian. So the question is, what happens (and it’s predictable this will happen) photos of Kim Kardashian’s naked derriere or scantily clad derriere no doubt appear, maybe even as Kanye campaign posters, you know, with a question.

What will the reaction there be?

Will people be outraged that opponents of Kanye West might post such pictures of his wife? Might the reaction be exactly what we just heard? (interruption) “What do you mean, she’s not just those…?” (interruption) Sex tape? Sex tape is what put her on the map, or was it Paris Hilton? Or was it both of them? Well, whatever, Kanye knows ’em both. (interruption) She has one. Right. Thank you for that knowledge, Brian. All right, so she has, yeah, a sex tape and all that. The argument can’t be that it’s intrusive because she has put that stuff out there her own, and that’s the point the last caller made.

Look, Melania Trump was a model. She wanted to get noticed. She posed for photos. The idea was for these photos to be seen. Right. I know. I know it’s 15 years ago, but nevertheless at the time she did it, that’s what it was for. And this was a woman trying to explain why this is different from all the other Trump comments about women, Megyn Kelly to Carly Fiorina to take your pick.

And her point was that Heidi Cruz has never, ever at any point in her life sought such notice. She has never posed for photos that were intended for public consumption, and that most women can relate to that. Most women don’t like pictures of themselves, and every woman has seen a bad picture of herself and no way wants anybody else to see it. And that’s why this is different. I thought that makes some sense.