RUSH: This is Reuben in “Lost” Lunas, New Mexico. Hey, Reuben, how are you, sir?
CALLER: El Rushbo! Mega dittos.
RUSH: Well, thank you. Hey, Reuben, let me ask you a question up front. I assume here from looking at the summary that Mr. Snerdley put up that you’re a Trumpster? You’re a Trump supporter?
CALLER: Yes, I am.
RUSH: Let me … Reuben, can I ask you a real quick question?
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: No wrong answer. Not a trick. Do not misinterpret any tone that you might think you hear in my voice. I’m genuinely asking out of genuine curiosity. Are you aware of this kerfuffle that has started over the secret interview Trump gave the New York Times?
CALLER: Yes, I am.
RUSH: Okay. Let me ask you a question: If you were to learn that Trump stated in that interview that building the wall and deporting 11 million is just an opening negotiating position and it’s not what he would end up settling for, would it change your mind about supporting him?
CALLER: It might change it a little bit, but not very much.
RUSH: Why or why not?
CALLER: Because I understand what Mr. Trump really is. He is a tool for me. He is our best chance — he might very well be our last chance — to finally take control back of our government. You know, when I talk about “the establishment,” I’m talking about the RINOs, I’m talking about the Democrats, and I’m talking about the liberal press. They all seem to think that it’s okay and that it’s their job to nominate our candidates for us. And that’s just not the case. You know, this is for the people, by the people, not the other way around, you know? I don’t know who elected them. I didn’t elect them.
RUSH: I understand that. The Democrats, media been trying to pick our candidate, and still are.
CALLER: Yes. I never knew that about the Republicans, Rush. I have always known the Democrats really don’t care who you vote for, that they’re gonna pretty much put in who they want. But until recently now, the GOP is saying the same thing.
RUSH: Like what do you mean?
CALLER: Well, here we are. There’s this big, giant swell going for Trump and they’re over there trying to figure out how to way to come up with a broker convention and put up a candidate they want instead.
RUSH: Oh, oh, oh. So now the RINOs are joining the Democrats in trying to pick a candidate that the people don’t want?
CALLER: Exactly. The RINOs are just… There’s no difference. We used to say there was no difference between them — there’s no difference between the RINOs and the Democrats — and evidently there’s no difference also between the conservative press and the liberal press ’cause they have joined in as well.
RUSH: Now, back to my —
CALLER: They think that we’re too ignorant, that we’re not informed. You know what, Mr. Rush? I am very well informed, and, yes, I am a conservative. But the reason that conservatives aren’t getting anywhere with me is if it wasn’t for Donald Trump, they wouldn’t even be able to get past the media.
RUSH: Interesting. You are a conservative. In a normal… If Trump were not in this, would you be supporting Ted Cruz?
CALLER: Absolutely, and I do support Ted Cruz. I just don’t think he’s capable of getting past the media. If it wasn’t for Donald Trump, Ted Cruz would be under severe attack right now and practically be on his way out.
RUSH: Now, this is a significant observation that part of this is you just love the fact that Trump controls the media. Finally, for once, somebody on your team is running circles around the media?
CALLER: Absolutely. And you told us for years and years and years you got the same question, why do the Republicans let them get away with what they do.
RUSH: I know. It’s all my fault, yes.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: So that was fascinating from Reuben. By the way, did you know that Reuben sounds like he might be of Hispanic heritage? And Reuben was an admitted conservative. And Reuben said that if Trump were not in the picture he would be supporting Ted Cruz. But then the bombshell. And, by the way, since Reuben said this, it’s the one thing that we all… I’ll just speak for myself. Now that it’s out there, I know there’s this animosity toward the media. The outrage and anger toward the media that is constant.
And Reuben said, “Yeah, but even if Trump weren’t there, and Cruz was the nominee, the media would have already destroyed him. The media would already have him buried. But they can’t do that to Trump! Trump is the one running them. Trump is controlling them.” Having heard Reuben say that, I think that is one of the greatest unspoken aspects of Trumpism. Not to diminish whatever aspects of it there are, but, boy, is that a big part of it. People on our side feel like we don’t have a prayer no matter what!
We could have the best candidate under the sun and he’d be destroyed by the media and the Democrat Party alliance, and there’s nothing they could do about it. And Trump has come along and is getting away with whatever he wants to get away with. He’s mocking them, he’s laughing at ’em, he’s threatening to sue them, he wants to open up the libel laws. All these things you can’t do, by the way. I mean, that’s a Supreme Court decision, New York Times v. Sullivan. You know what that basically is?
New York Times v. Sullivan, just to analyze that for you, permits famous people to be libeled. Public figures can be, because they’re public figures. The only redress is if the public figure can prove malice. That’s the only… When you boil it all down, it’s the only option somebody like Trump would have. He would have to… If he wanted to go out and sue these people for libel, he would have hardly any prayer. He would have to prove there was malice, and that’s almost impossible to prove. You can’t allow hearsay evidence and this kind of thing, and the culprits are not gonna admit that they have malice.
It would have to be so obvious. There was a movie. Wilford Brimley, great, great actor was in this movie. I think it was Paul Newman… Yeah, Absence of Malice. Who was it? Sally Field in this movie? (interruption) Yeah, Paul Newman. Paul Newman was a local businessman. He was not a famous guy. He was a local businessman who ran a tire shop or some such thing and… (interruption) A liquor store, is that what it was? Liquor distributor. Right. And it was in Miami, right, Southern Florida. And the local… The Miami rag, the newspaper had it in for this guy.
They assigned Sally Field, a reporter, to go get him. She ended up falling in love with him or liking him, and the local prosecutor got in bed with the Miami Herald, and the DOJ — it was a federal indictment. The DOJ had to send one of their guys down there and basically stomped all over his local prosecutor, saying, “You’re doing malice here! You’ve got malice!” And it took ’em two hours, the length of the movie, but Paul Newman ended up winning this thing. But that’s the only avenue.
Trump can’t go in there and open up the libel laws. He would have to go to Congress first. But the point is… I’m getting sidetracked here. You remember that dinner party that I had at my house that I walked out of my own dinner party, these two guys that wanted to throw Sarah Palin overboard ’cause the media had destroyed her? And I was aghast. “You guys are gonna sit there and that’s it? The media destroys our candidate, so they’re automatically disqualified?”
“Yeah, we’ve gotta have somebody who can stand up to ’em!”
Well, here it is. This thing has now come back to hit me twice, this whole business about the media. Look, nobody needs to educate me on what people think about the media. But that aspect of this I’m sure is a relevant factor, in people having this attachment they’ve got to Trump. I’ve got the Tom Brokaw sound bite. This is the most… This is the most incredible thing here. (interruption) Well, no. Actual malice is defined as knowing it’s false or that the speaker has reckless disregard for the truth, and that’s what you would have to prove.
Actual malice is defined as knowing it’s false. When you print whatever you’re printing about, you have to know that it isn’t true when you do it. And boy, that’s… It’s a tough sell.