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RUSH: I think I saw out of the corner of my eye, I think Fox is now playing the video of me from yesterday’s program, “It’s just the common cold, folks.” (interruption) I know, it’s everywhere ’cause they’re so hoping I’m gonna be wrong. Oh, they can’t wait, they’re all, even Fox is keeping this in reserve for in case I’m wrong.

Folks, when I’m wrong, they are happier than when Trump is wrong. They live for me being wrong ’cause I’m documented to be almost always right 99.8% of the time, and when I’m wrong they just — because they think it discredits all of conservatism, all of the Republican Party, and Trump. And what they really want is to cram a microphone in the face of any Republican and have that Republican disavow me. You know that’s what they’re hoping for.

That’s what Obama was hoping for when he had his first joint meeting after being elected, it’s 2009 — you’ve forgotten this — he had Boehner and Republicans in the Senate in there, and he said to them, “You guys gonna have to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh. That’s not how things get done here.” And what Obama was hoping is that Boehner, Mitch McConn, whoever, would walk out to the microphones after the meeting and agree with him and disavow me.

Now, Boehner was down here two weeks after that, and we were talking about it. And he told me, he said, “I don’t know why Obama mentioned it. It didn’t make any sense to any of us.” I said, “Are you kidding?” He said, “No. Why would he do that?” “It’s because they were hoping you would agree with him. They were hoping you go outside to the microphones and disavow me.”

That’s what they’re hoping now. That’s why they’re asking Gupta. That’s why they’re asking Fauci. That’s why we’re asking the CDC people. They’re asking everybody, “Do you think Rush Limbaugh’s right, it’s just a common cold?” They’re hoping: “Limbaugh’s a fool, he’s an idiot, nobody ought to be listening.” That’s what they want somebody to say. And all the better if they can find a Republican who will do it.

So you Republicans, you need to be keeping a sharp eye. When I said it’s a common cold virus, I was talking about as it exists in the country. Nobody’s died from it, we have 57 cases, we do not have a pandemic. I mean, it’s not even the common cold in terms of the impact it’s had on America to date. It’s not even the common cold. I at no time said that it isn’t dangerous and that it couldn’t become something else.

You know, I’m Mr. Realville. I’m the mayor of literal Realville. I deal with things as they are and I specifically — I’ll give you an example. Do you know that they’re already on Twitter memes, threads, and even the Drive-Bys, “This coronavirus is Trump’s Katrina.” Now, what the hell does that mean? Well, what was Katrina? They are admitting that they turned the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by the Bush administration into a great bit of damage and liability for Bush. They’re admitting they politicized that. And they did.

They ripped Bush for flying over there. They ripped Bush for not enough FEMA trailers when it was the mayor and the governor of Louisiana that left the buses to get flooded and didn’t evacuate people out of there. So the very idea they’re running around talking about the coronavirus now as Trump’s Katrina, it just makes my point of how they see this.

They don’t see this as a deadly disease. They don’t see it as anything other than another opportunity to drive Trump out of office. Make no mistake.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Stand by sound bite number 26. Folks, they’re bringing out the big guns now. TheHill.com: “Chelsea Clinton Rips Limbaugh for ‘Peddling’ Fake News on Coronavirus.” Now I’m really in for it. Now the big guns are coming out. I’m “‘peddling’ fake news”? I’m the only person telling you the truth about it when I say that it is the common cold. There are 57 cases in this country right now. Nobody has died!

There are some people quarantined from that cruise ship. We’ve got it under control. There is no need to panic right now. I’m the only guy getting this right. As far as we’re concerned right now, it is nothing more than the common cold in this country. I’ll say it again: It could become something worse. It’s not the common cold in China. It’s killing people there.

It’s not killing people here. It hasn’t gotten here yet. The media is trying to make you think that you’re just as good as dead because Donald Trump doesn’t care ’cause this is gonna be Trump’s Katrina. Now I’ve become a standard part of the story. Here’s what I saw. I saw myself on Fox a minute ago. Here is that report…

CHAD PERGRAM: The administration says there are no divisions internally with or the CDC over how they’re dealing with the coronavirus, and they do have their backers externally, including Rush Limbaugh.

RUSH ARCHIVE: Donald Trump is president of the United States. He is not president of the world. It is not his job to control the spread of the coronavirus in China. It’s not his job to control the spread of the coronavirus in the U.K. There’s nothing he can do anyway about it.

CHAD PERGRAM: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has proposed $8.5 billion in spending to deal with the coronavirus, some of that —

RUSH: All right, stop the tape. Is anything…? Now, that may sound like, “Ooooh, it’s not Trump’s job to stop…?” You think that’s a bad thing to say, Dawn? (interruption) “Maybe. I think it might…” Donald Trump’s president of the United States. What can he do about spreading coronavirus in the U.K. anyway? What can he do about the spread of coronavirus in China, other than accuse them of maybe weaponizing it for whatever, getting back at him for tariffs.

Who knows what’s going on with this? (interruption) How do I end up in these stories? ‘Cause I’m the only guy saying what I’m saying. I’m the only guy saying anything reasonable about this. Donald Trump’s Katrina? Really? Is that what this is? Is that what they think this is? Is that what they want this to become? It’s 57 cases in the country right now, and there aren’t any deaths from it.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Well, yeah, I knew it wasn’t gonna last. I guess all the sympathy for me is now gone. Folks, let me say, all I’m doing here is trying to fight a bunch of people who are yelling “fire” in a crowded theater. Everybody knows not to do that. Do not yell “fire” in a crowded theater, unless there is one. We have people who are purposely creating a panic here — or trying to — to have a negative impact on the stock market, to maybe have a negative impact on the economy, because they are hoping to have a negative impact on President Trump.

The proof of this is that they’re already calling it Trump’s Katrina, and all I’m doing here is trying to stand in and say, “It’s not time to yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater right now.” Forgive me if it offends you, and I’m not gonna apologize for it. There are people trying to create a panic, and that’s not gonna help anything or anybody. It never does, and it’s not warranted right now. They want you to believe — these people, they want you to believe — that your government is incompetent and incapable of dealing with this because Donald Trump runs it.

So whatever Trump proposes, it’s not enough. It’s not enough money. It’s not smart enough. It’s not comprehensive enough. It’s just not enough. It’s not good enough — and that’s gonna be their reaction all day. No matter what he says in his speech tonight at six o’clock, it’s not going to be enough. “Donald Trump doesn’t know what he is doing. Donald Trump doesn’t care. Donald Trump has gotten rid of all the smart people in government. Donald Trump has gotten rid of the Obama experts.”

Whatever they do, however they characterize this. You’re gonna waste time getting mad at me if you think I’m underselling this by saying it’s just the common cold, ’cause right now that’s all it is, with 57 cases and no deaths. I mean, look, Drudge has a screaming headline. Screaming headline: “FLIGHT ATTENDANT WORKING LAX TESTS POSITIVE.” “Oh, my God, 58 cases! Oh, my God. Oh, my God. A flight attendant at LAX? Oh, my God!” This is what is attempted to be created here. The media profits gloriously from this kind of thing.

The Democrat Party thinks they can profit amazingly versus Republicans and Trump with this kind of stuff. In my mind, it’s irresponsible to go about it the way they are. It’s not warranted yet. It’s not justified, and certainly it isn’t helpful. Now, San Francisco — the mayor of San Francisco — has declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus. Do you know how many cases of coronavirus there are in San Francisco?

Zero.

Zero cases of coronavirus in San Francisco, and yet an emergency has been declared.

Zero confirmed cases. Democrats are ready to use any scare tactic they can to create a panic. Now, look at this. Don’t you love how San Francisco is all on top of something for which there are no reported cases while their streets are full of homeless people that poop all over the place? You want to talk about the rampant diseases running loose on the streets of San Francisco? And there’s nothing done about it. There’s no emergency declared.

The best thing they can do is create a bunch of maps to help tourists avoid the piles of human poop when they’re walking around town. No reported cases of coronavirus, and here we go: A state of emergency. Mayor London Breed issued a statement: “Although there are still zero confirmed cases in San Francisco residents, the global picture is changing rapidly, and we need to step-up preparedness. We see the virus spreading in new parts of the world every day, and we are taking the necessary steps to protect San Franciscans…”

Like what? Are you banning flights from the ChiComs? Are you banning flights from Asia? No. Are we closing the borders? No. You know, the virus doesn’t know California from Arizona from New Mexico. The virus doesn’t know Republicans from Democrats from liberals from conservatives. It says here, “Declaring a state of emergency will allow San Francisco to increase its emergency planning efforts and promptly redirect resources and employees if there were to be an outbreak in the city.”

No reported cases. I’m sure the citizens of San Francisco are well assured, however. I’m sure they’re sitting there saying, “Well, we’re safe now that an emergency has been declared.” So the people of San Francisco are now convinced that their local government is on the lookout and is protecting them and is gonna make sure that no cases get into that town, right?

Because a state of emergency has been declared. They may take some resources away from controlling the poop on the sidewalks to dealing with the virus when it happens in San Francisco, and the city and its residents can rest assured that the government’s on top of it. Despite the fact that Trump is president, San Francisco is prepared.

Back to the phones. This is Rob in Santa Monica. I’m glad you called, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network.

CALLER: Hello there. Petadittos for recovery. Here’s another example, a sweet example (chuckling) of cognitive dissonance that we have here in Southern California. In Orange County, Costa Mesa area, there’s a developmental center that was closed down. It used to house adults with “intellectual disabilities,” as they say, and the Orange County Board of Supervisors says that they’re “very compassionate.” They’re “aware of the public’s disfavor” of using this facility to house COVID-19 patients. But, the Board of Supervisors says, “the health and welfare and the safety of our community is our top priority.” (chuckle) I just don’t know how they can square that with the open-border concept.

RUSH: So what are they saying, that they’re not gonna provide space for COVID-19 patients?

CALLER: No. The Board of Supervisors wants to use the facility for it, but the public is up in arms. They’re out in front of city hall with their —

RUSH: Oh, the public doesn’t want the patients anywhere near them. Oh. I get it.

CALLER: Exactly.

RUSH: So the government wants to set up a place where COVID-19 patients can come and maybe be treated, but the population — the gen pop — doesn’t want ’em anywhere near. And you’re saying that’s awfully hypocritical given these people don’t care about open borders in the southern part of the state?

CALLER: That’s right. I mean, yeah, anywhere — our borders everywhere — and that goes for the San Francisco thing. It’s crazy what they think they want to do but then they —

RUSH: Let me tell you something. It appears crazy. This, again, folks, is exactly what happens when everything gets politicized. Politicizing a disease makes about as much as sense as anything I could think of. This disease, there is nothing political about it unless someday somebody proves the ChiComs created it as a bioweapon. Outside of that, there’s nothing political about this or any other disease. Meaning: It doesn’t care who gets it.

It doesn’t target political people over apolitical people. There’s nothing political about it. And yet that’s all we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with it as a political issue, and this is why people find everything about it so controversial. We got the entire Drive-By Media, the Democrat Party trying to create a panic. You got one guy on the radio saying, “No, it’s no time to panic,” and the guy on the radio is said to be the nut. Me!

One guy trying to warn everybody, “Don’t panic yet. It’s not time to panic. Keep your head about you. It’s not time to give up. It’s not time to believe that we can’t stop this.” The Democrats in the media want you to believe that we are powerless against this because our president is incompetent and incapable and doesn’t have anybody working for him who knows what to do about this.

All they want is their White House power back. All they want is Donald Trump gone, and this virus is nothing more than the latest opportunity for them. So there’s one guy on the radio standing up — as I always do — trying to alert everybody to who the hell these people really are and what their objective really is, and I’m being called the nut. Sorry, it is the other way around.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: If journalists are really interested in giving people the information they think they’re gonna need to know to be aware, why are they wasting time telling Americans what a guy on the radio is saying? Well, it’s obvious. They are hoping that the guy on the radio’s gonna end up being wrong so that they can say he’s wrong and you should never, ever listen to him again because he’s one of the biggest thorns in our side. So patently obvious.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Right now. Folks, I’m not putting myself down here. Don’t misunderstand this question. The question is designed to illustrate a point. If the Drive-By Media… Mr. Snerdley, are you listening? I want you… If the Drive-By Media is so concerned on people learning everything they need to know about the coronavirus and all this, why in the world does it matter what a guy on the radio is saying?

Now, I’m not putting myself down. It’s just the exact opposite. I am a guy on the radio who is going to against the grain, and what are they doing? They’re focusing on me in preparation for focusing on Trump after he makes his address to the country at 6 p.m. today, and what am I doing? I’m simply not buying the panic that these people have started, and I’m trying to tell everybody that they’re politicizing this.

This is so obvious. They’re so excited reporting on this, calling it Trump’s Katrina. It is nothing more than the same attitude they had during Trump-Russia collusion, the two years of the Mueller investigation, the eager anticipation they had for when that report was gonna come. I’ll guarantee you this: If there was a Mueller report on the coronavirus and it stated that Trump did not create the coronavirus, they’d be disappointed.

If there was a Mueller report on the coronavirus that comes out and says, “Trump did not start the coronavirus, Trump did not spread the coronavirus; in fact, Trump had nothing to do with it,” they’d be disappointed, because they have got everybody set up for somehow believing that this is gonna be Donald Trump’s fault. And all I’m trying to do is tell you is, “Do not fall for this.” It’s the same garbage that we’ve had to put up with from the media ever since Trump was elected.

And, by the way, it’s the same garbage that we conservatives and Republicans have had to put up with in the media for the last 30 years. They went after George W. Bush this way. They went after George H. W. Bush this way. They go after every conservative. They went after Newt Gingrich this way. They’ve gone after me this way for 30 years. There’s nothing really new about it other than, on this, they’re taking something that could be an ultimately serious problem — however this thing manifests itself in this country — and they’re politicizing it.

They’re weaponizing it for the purpose of somehow only being harmful to Republicans and Donald Trump. I was thinking during the break, how did Obama avoid this? There was this Ebola threat during the Obama administration that wasn’t that big, but it was out there. So the Ebola virus got loose in Africa. So what did Obama do? The first thing Obama did was announce a $5 billion plan to deal with it — and that’s all it took, like it does with everything else liberal or socialist.

Just say you care about it and it’s magic. You don’t have to do a damn thing about it. You don’t have to solve anything. You don’t have to fix anything. All you have to do is throw some money at it, and people assume that you’ve done something and that you care. So Obama named an Ebola czar and spent $5 billion — and that was it. Trump has said there will not be a coronavirus czar. Now, an Ebola czar is nothing more than a PR move.

What’s the Ebola czar gonna do that the NIH can’t do or that the CDC can’t do? He’s just gonna ride herd on it. The Ebola czar does not have any powers to get rid of Ebola or to cure Ebola or to even spot Ebola before anybody else. It’s strictly a PR move. And since the media was guaranteed not to let Obama fail or even be criticized, whatever Obama did became the gold standard. So Obama spends $5 billion on Ebola, Trump announces $2.5 million for coronavirus.

“It’s not enough!”

If I see Da Nang Dick one more time on TV whining and moaning about how unprepared we are and how unserious Trump is and how dangerously exposed we are, I’m gonna have a fit. The guy’s lying about his service in Vietnam, never there, trying to get all kinds of valor and heroism for it. This Pencil Neck Jr. geek guy gets to go on television every day talking about Trump being unfit, unprepared, unaware. It just drives me crazy, folks.

I don’t mind being one of… I’m not the only voice against it. I don’t mind being one of the few to go against the grain, but don’t let anybody tell you that I have relegated this thing on some far-off corner where we shouldn’t be concerned about it. That is not at all what I have said. I have not implied it, and that’s what they are trying to make you believe that I have said.

Because at the end of this, they desperately want to be able to run news story after news story after news stories saying, “Limbaugh Was Wrong,” and all I am is a guy on the radio.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Troy, Missouri, Alice. I’m glad you called. Glad you waited. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Oh, my prayers are with you. As a resident of Realville, I can’t believe I’m talking to my mayor. My question —

RUSH: My office door is open to anybody every day.

CALLER: My question is, how many people die in vehicle accidents every year?

RUSH: About 50,000. The wheel, the wheel in this country kills 50,000 people a year.

CALLER: Okay. They’re trying to scare us to death with the coronavirus. When are they gonna go after this?

RUSH: Well, you’re making my point. They’re hoping somehow to turn this into a political liability for Donald Trump.

CALLER: Tucker Carlson had a guest from the administration, said everything they’re doing is in Trump time.

RUSH: Meaning what? Everything they’re doing is in Trump time? What’s that mean?

CALLER: Well, I think it means he doesn’t waste time.

RUSH: Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh, well, that’s true. Let me reissue a sort of prediction I made earlier today. This happened in the first hour, and the first half of it is already coming true. I predicted that all day long, no matter where you go for news, if you stream it, if you watch it on cable, over the air, however you get your news, it’s gonna be a never-ending panic. It’s gonna feature Democrats claiming we’re unprepared, we’re ill-equipped. Donald Trump is not doing enough. Donald Trump hasn’t spoken yet. Donald Trump doesn’t care, whatever.

Everybody’s gonna get all worked up into a frenzy, then Trump is gonna give his address to the nation at 6 p.m. And it’s gonna calm everybody down. It’s gonna be filled with logic and reason. It is going to make everybody understand that we’re on top of it. And when it’s all over, everybody is gonna feel embarrassed that they ended up getting all worked up, that they let the media get ’em all worked up about it. That is what’s gonna happen.

What do you think Trump’s gonna say at 6 pm? You think he’s gonna say, “We’ve lost control, leave the country now, we can’t protect you”? Is Trump gonna say, “I’ve done everything I can, but the Democrats are right, the disease is gonna wipe us out. The best chance you’ve got is to leave, maybe go to Venezuela.” Is that what he’s gonna say?

Is Donald Trump gonna say, “I regret going to India because I went to India, the virus got into America. If I had been here, the virus would not have come because it would have been afraid of me, but I left country, I left you exposed, I feel very bad, I’m gonna resign.” Is that what he’s gonna do? No, and no, and no. Gonna do the exact opposite.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here, I want you to hear this. Cookie went and got this. For some reason this really fascinates me. Maybe I’m making a bigger deal out of it than I should. But this is Bloomberg attempting — he knew he had to do something to score big points, and this is how he tried to do it last night.

BLOOMBERG: I think that Donald Trump thinks it would be better if he’s president. I do not think so. Vladimir Putin thinks that Donald Trump should be president of the United States. And that’s why Russia is helping you get elected so you’ll lose to him.

CROWD: (booing)

RUSH: Now, why is it — do you hear that? You hear all that booing? The Washington Post reported that Putin wants Crazy Bernie to get elected. Okay. So Bloomberg mentions it, and they boo it? I thought the Russians meddling in our elections was a bad thing. I thought it was very, very dangerous. I thought it was really something to be very, very, very concerned about, very vigilant about. I thought it was very horrible.

A major newspaper has said that the Russians want Crazy Bernie to win. Bloomberg points it out, he gets booed for pointing it out? Yet all those times the media and others claimed that the Russians wanted Trump to win, and they stood up and they applaud it and they had a special counsel to investigate it?

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here, I want you to hear this. Cookie went and got this. For some reason this really fascinates me. Maybe I’m making a bigger deal out of it than I should. But this is Bloomberg attempting — he knew he had to do something to score big points, and this is how he tried to do it last night.

BLOOMBERG: I think that Donald Trump thinks it would be better if he’s president. I do not think so. Vladimir Putin thinks that Donald Trump should be president of the United States. And that’s why Russia is helping you get elected so you’ll lose to him.

CROWD: (booing)

RUSH: Now, why is it — do you hear that? You hear all that booing? The Washington Post reported that Putin wants Crazy Bernie to get elected. Okay. So Bloomberg mentions it, and they boo it? I thought the Russians meddling in our elections was a bad thing. I thought it was very, very dangerous. I thought it was really something to be very, very, very concerned about, very vigilant about. I thought it was very horrible.

A major newspaper has said that the Russians want Crazy Bernie to win. Bloomberg points it out, he gets booed for pointing it out? Yet all those times the media and others claimed that the Russians wanted Trump to win, and they stood up and they applaud it and they had a special counsel to investigate it?

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Steve in Wichita, welcome, sir. Great to have you on the program. Hi.

CALLER: Rush, you sound great.

RUSH: Thank you, sir. Thank you.

CALLER: That gives us all — we feel good when you sound good. I disagreed with you the other day when you characterized the 2% as not being very high. And the reason I did is I’ve been reading so much about the coronavirus ’cause it’s kind of killing my business right now.

RUSH: What is your business?

CALLER: I’m a photographer, and I photograph products, and since China makes so many of the products that I photograph I can’t get my hands on ’em.

RUSH: Ah. Okay.

CALLER: Factories are all closed, so —

RUSH: That’s true.

CALLER: I’m kind of dead in the water here, you know? But, anyway, 2% is a pretty high mortality rate if you look at the Spanish flu of 1918, that was between 2 and 3%, that that was the deadliest pandemic worldwide. When you say it like 98% of the people are gonna survive, that sounds pretty good, but if you consider 2% was the exact same amount pretty much as the worst —

RUSH: Well, let’s look at the flu numbers in the United States. ‘Cause I’ve got ’em here. The flu numbers in the United States, one-tenth of 1% die.

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: So that’s 60,000 — 30,000 a year, basically, the numbers from 2018, 2019. The majority of the ones who die are age 4 to 5 and 65 and older. Very young and the elderly. Within the middle demographics, the death rate is not anywhere near the majority of the number of people. But .1% is the American influenza death rate. We don’t know what the American death rate for coronavirus is ’cause there haven’t been any yet.

CALLER: That’s true. But my point was characterizing 2% as not being a lot, that’s just not true. I mean, 2% would be devastating, especially if this thing is anywhere near as contagious as they make it sound. You know, people are asymptomatic and they’re able to spread to people without symptoms. I mean, you could feel fine and go to Walmart, who knows how many people you could spread this disease to.

And then also the symptoms are just like the cold and the flu. For some people it’s real mild, so they could think that they’re not sick or not very sick and go out and then contaminate their whole family and send their kids to school. I mean, I completely agree with your political analysis on this. I think you’re dead right. They want to weaponize this against Trump. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that this thing is quite scary if you consider a 2% mortality rate. At least that’s the way I see it.

RUSH: Well, I’m not gonna argue. The statistics are such that a 2% fatality rate for any disease is high in historical standards, especially compared to the influenza rate which is .1. But again, most of these stats right now come from China. I think the death toll in China is just still 3,000 and a little over 45,000 cases or 47, whatever the 2% number is. And the Chinese are not doing a whole lot to help people there —

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: — who contract this.

CALLER: They’re not gonna lie if those numbers are less than that, and I’m certain that we should take any information we get from the Chinese government with a healthy skepticism. So I would guess if their telling us it’s 2%, 2.2%, something like that, it could be more, you know? But, anyway, I just think that you should take a 2% mortality rate very seriously. That’s pretty scary.

RUSH: Okay. Well, I’m glad you called, sir. I appreciate the fact you got through.

CALLER: You sound good. Thank you.

RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much. Folks, I feel good. I get treatment every day and I feel fine so far, so knock on Formica.

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