Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh (1951 -) is an American radio host and right-wing political commentator. He currently hosts the nationally syndicated The Rush Limbaugh Show, which is broadcast for three hours a day on weekdays. In the past, he has identified as an "entertainer", but increasingly presents himself as the leader of the U.S. Republican Party and American conservatism.

The show has an estimated 13.5 million listeners per week. Limbaugh has written two books - The Way Things Ought To Be and See, I Told You So. He also hosted a television show from 1992 to 1996, and was a commentator for the ESPN sports cable channel on Sunday NFL Countdown, resigning after stating that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb received favorable treatment from the media because of his race.

Limbaugh has deflected some criticism by saying he is an "entertainer" rather than a serious political commentator, as with his song "Barack the Magic Negro", and referring to Barack Obama as "Halfrican American". He has said "magic negro" is a historical cultural term, a reference to benevolent African-Americans portrayed in old films, and was recently used by a black commentator in the Los Angeles Times.

Criticism from Republicans and conservatives

In March 2009, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele began calling Limbaugh's rhetoric "incendiary" and "ugly", and responded to Limbaugh's claims that he represented the Republican mainstream with "Rush will say what Rush has to say; we'll do what we have to do." After Limbaugh counterattacked, saying "saying the Republican chairman appears to be supporting President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.... [Steele seems] obsessed with seeing to it President Obama succeeds. I frankly am stunned that the chairman of the Republican National Committee endorses such an agenda...I have to conclude that he does, because he attacks me for wanting it to fail."

Steele said, to an online reporter, that he "was maybe a little bit inarticulate."

Limbaugh has been attacked as destructive to the conservative movement by conservative commentators such as David Frum, who argue that his policies are exclusionist, and are cutting the U.S. Republican Party and American conservatism down to a "base" of extremists that cannot win elections.