Rush Limbaugh’s disparaging remarks about Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg kissing his husband struck many as homophobic. And now Limbaugh says Donald Trump doesn’t want him to apologize for them.
Limbaugh claimed during his show on Monday that the president called while the talk show host was about to undergo a medical procedure, according to audio captured by Media Matters.
Trump desperately needed to speak to him, Limbaugh recounted, before insisting that he should “never apologize.”
He calls when I am moments away from commencing a medical procedure. And I had to tell doctors, “You’ve got to give me a half-hour, the president’s calling.” “OK, we’ll wait a half-hour.”
Then I told the White House, “Look, I’ve got a medical procedure in 10 minutes. Can you have the president call me back in 35?” And they did. So, he called back, and he said “Rush, I just got to tell you something. Never apologize, don’t ever ―” and I said, “For what?”
Limbaugh said he was unaware at the time of the controversy his comments about Buttigieg had aroused. Here’s the audio:
RawStory questioned Limbaugh’s account, wondering why he’d ask his medical providers to wait half an hour and then tell the White House to call him back in 35 minutes. “Also, the level of gall is tremendous – who tells the President of the United States to call them back later?”
The White House did not immediately confirm the call to HuffPost.
Last week, Limbaugh, hot off being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, suggested that Democratic Party leaders thought “America’s still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president.”
Buttigieg responded to Limbaugh’s comments with an emphatic “I love my husband,” adding, “I’m not going to take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh.”
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