Ron DeSantis credits Rush Limbaugh with helping him become Governor
Gov. Ron DeSantis. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

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Limbaugh praised DeSantis during his last radio show.

Florida’s Governor continued Thursday to bask in the conservative media limelight with return engagements on Fox News for the man increasingly talked up as a 2024 presidential candidate.

Ron DeSantis, in an appearance on “Fox and Friends” Thursday, credited the just-deceased radio talk titan Rush Limbaugh with helping him reach voters and ultimately win the Governor’s race.

“He had me on when I was running for Governor,” DeSantis said. “I was getting the tar kicked out of me every day and he had me on the week before the election in 2018. He didn’t have a lot of guests. I was honored to be on his show a couple of times.”

Hours before, DeSantis showed up on the Laura Ingraham show Wednesday night, one of the few active politicians to show up on the network’s primetime lineup Wednesday in the wake of Limbaugh’s passing.

As the Governor did in a longform statement earlier in the day, DeSantis at once lionized Limbaugh and offered another in his series of TV hits that have made him a major force in the conservative movement that Limbaugh’s rhetorical style helped forge.

Limbaugh was described by DeSantis as “the Babe Ruth of Radio.”

“He would have been great in radio even without the conservative thing. He’s just that talented. Obviously he was a conservative icon up there with (Antonin) Scalia, (Ronald) Reagan, and (William F.) Buckley,” DeSantis said, invoking the conservative trinity of the former Supreme Court Justice, the Republican President of the 1980s, and the father of the postwar movement.

Describing Limbaugh as a “personal friend” and a “warm and decent man,” DeSantis quipped that he was “proud that [Limbaugh] was in the Southern Command down in Florida for so long,” a reference to Limbaugh’s move to the Sunshine State for tax purposes.

“Just think of how many tens of millions of dollars he saved over his 23 years in the state of Florida,” DeSantis continued. “And so it was the right decision. We were so glad to have him. He was great for the community down there and people loved him.”

Earlier in the day, DeSantis offered remarks also, lionizing the “GOAT of radio, of conservative media and of inspiring a loyal army of American patriots” and “the most dominant radio personality in American history.”

“Rush busted through a media landscape in which a handful of media outlets served up pre-cooked liberal narratives,” the Governor said. “By providing a fresh, conservative perspective, Rush attracted millions of listeners and paved the way for the proliferation of conservative media.”

“We don’t know who will succeed Rush as America’s anchorman,” DeSantis added, “but we know no one will replace him.”

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


4 comments

  • Sonja Fitch

    February 18, 2021 at 4:31 am

    Pathetic ! We in Florida will vote for the best to serve and protect Floridians. Duffus Desantis is the GOPQ cult. Duffus Desantis is willingly slaughtering Floridians. Duffus Desantis only talks to Fox News so hims can lie. Vote Democrat up and down ballot for the elections in 2022.

  • Cindy Gabner

    February 18, 2021 at 9:08 am

    No thank you Fitch, Republican here 🙂

    • SANDRA OLIVA

      February 21, 2021 at 4:04 pm

      Sad that you don’t see De Santis as trump-dummy here. He fired that fine data manager because she refused to lower the actual Covid19 cases, then sent marshals heavy with guns to her house to intimidate her and her children~ He and trump are arch-examples of what is tearing the morals, and norms that had brought USA to full respect around the globe. That anyone in America but witless stupids would have realized early on that those Republicans who applauded DeSantis -Trump were and Are being taken for a ride. They claim they “voted for Trump because he was ‘exciting'”. Hitler was exciting too, look that that brought Germany! When are grownups going to realize that “exciting” is not a good reason to vote for someone–they can watch TV instead. The rest of us are more discerning than that; but there are still those witless who “vote for The Party”, rather than checking out candidates themselves without falling for “EXCITING”! FACE IT , THOSE WHO ARE JUST “EXCITING” BELONG ON A COMEDY SHOW, NOT IN OFFICE!

  • Jeff Ward

    February 18, 2021 at 10:51 am

    When I was 14 and attending the 1964 Republican National Convention, I met Ronald Reagan and had a nice one on one conversation with him. I always said afterward that the man “could charm the skin off a rattlesnake.” Desantis has a well known prickly pear personality and is just not likable. Reagan was never arrogant and would disavow anything to do with Desantis or his politics.

Comments are closed.


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