Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Rush Limbaugh was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2020.
Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh died Wednesday after a battle with lung cancer. He was 70.
Limbaugh, a Missouri native, was unflinchingly supportive of former President Donald Trump, who bestowed upon him the nation’s highest civilian honor -- the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- during the 2020 State of the Union address.
He was known for his fiery and articulate rhetoric.
"The Rush Limbaugh Show” was syndicated in 1988 and served as the prototype for the modern-day right-wing media movement.
Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman Steve Pearce issued the following statement:
“Rush was a giant in radio and in the conservative movement. He was a true inspiration for everyone who treasures conservative values and principles.
"He was a voice that carried so many important messages and truths in politics and other arenas.
"I met Rush at my Congressional Orientation in 2003, and he inspired me and encouraged me to always fight for conservatism and to stand up for our cherished freedoms and American ideals.”
Vanity Fair once likened his influence among conservatives to Oprah Winfrey’s sway with women. He is credited with heavily influencing voters in 1994 when Republicans won the House of Representatives during President Bill Clinton’s first term.
Limbaugh was also a top-selling author, despite attending only one year of college at Southeast Missouri State University, where he reportedly “flunked everything,” according to his mother.
In 2014, he won the Author of the Year award at the Children’s Choice Book Awards for his work on “Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans.”
“I love America,” Limbaugh said after receiving that honor from young readers. “I wish everybody did.”
He credited conservative intellectual William F. Buckley Jr.as a role model, calling the influential commentator “indescribable” and “irreplaceable” after his death in 2008.
In his last broadcast of 2020, an emotional Limbaugh told listeners he didn’t expect to see the end of the year and was grateful he did.
“Because I have outlived the diagnosis, I’ve been able to receive and hear and process some of the most wonderful, nice things about me that I might not have ever heard had I not gotten sick,” he said. “How many people who pass away never hear the eulogies, never hear the thank-yous?”
The Eastern New Mexico News contributed to this report.
