Rush Limbaugh, the conservative commentator whose fiery rhetoric forged a new landscape for talk radio and inflamed the partisan divide that came to characterize political discourse in the U.S., has died, according to an announcement on his radio show Wednesday.
He was 70 years old.
Feb. 5, 202003:30
The Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree outraged critics with his long history of sexist, homophobic and racist remarks.
“He wasn’t the first to do that kind of right-wing ideological commentary on the radio, but part of the appeal is also part of what used to get him in trouble, he would just go out there and say stuff no matter how outrageous it might be,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.
Thompson compared him to the rise of former President Donald Trump, saying, “he would strip out the usual manners — and he would just say what he wanted.”
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Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
