Sean Hannity (25:51)

that

Charlie Kirk (25:54)

he stayed so in touch with the grassroots. You want to talk about someone that has been right about almost every single prediction the last couple years Never underestimated Trump, always was critical of the Republican establishment. He analyzed things perfectly because he was always in touch with the very same people that launched his radio career. And I think he's from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Fun place. But yes, he did get his career at Sacramento. My memory was correct. So what does that mean for all of us? Boy, if you're listening right now, this is a call to action, because that's what Rush would want. Rush was very troubled about the current trajectory of the country. He went out and defended President Trump every day. He defended conservative values, but he was relentlessly optimistic about the future of America. He believed our best days were ahead. He was positive about what was to come. And he put a lot of that on his shoulders and in the way that he went about his program. He was unlike any other radio host I ever listened to. And that's not a slight at any of these other amazing legends. Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, they're amazing. But Rush, more than anyone else, I felt like Rush was talking to me, not talking to a group of people. I felt like Rush was having a one on one conversation with me. His pauses, his inflections, his vocabulary, his diction, his humor, his humanity. How many times did you hear Rush just shuffle together papers or say, which cut is this or what's going on here? And you felt as if you were sitting right there in the studio with him and you were having a one on one conversation about the future of America. You didn't feel as if he was broadcasting. You felt like he was conversing. And the country's in a very difficult moment right now. We just lost one of our defenders. We just lost someone with a distribution of 15 million people a day that he spoke to. And so now in every single vertical in the church, in communities, in business, in politics, in communication, it's now time to step up, everybody. So we're now going to need 1,000 people to be as active as Rush to fill the void that he left. In our fast paced world, it's tough to make reading a priority, at least it used to be. Use what I use to digest big ideas quickly. @thinker.org Charlie T H I N K R.org they summarize the key ideas from new and noteworthy nonfiction, giving you access to an entire library of great books in bite sized form. Read or listen to hundreds of titles in a matter of minutes. From old classics like Dale Carnegie's how to Win Friends and Influence People to the recent best sellers like Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life. When I'm going for walks or when I'm riding on the bike, I always pop open. Thinker.org, t-I n k r.org and I just try to learn something new every day. That's something we talk about here a lot on this Charlie Kirk show. So make sure you guys do it. So if you want to challenge your preconceptions, expand your horizons and become a better thinker, then go to thinker.org charlie that's T H I N K R.org to start a free trial today. That's thinker.org T H I N K R.Org charlie

Rush Limbaugh (29:37)

I think people listen to

Charlie Kirk (29:38)

the radio for three reasons.

Rush Limbaugh (29:39)

Be entertained, to be entertained, and to be entertained.

Charlie Kirk (29:42)

And avid listeners were wildly entertained when they tuned in to Rush Limbaugh, arguably the most influential talk show host in the history of radio.

Rush Limbaugh (29:50)

You're next on the Rush Limbaugh program.

Sean Hannity (29:52)

His daily program, heard by an estimated

Charlie Kirk (29:55)

20 million listeners each day and broadcast on more than 650 affiliates, made him one of the most well known voices for grassroots conservatives. So that was a news report, 20 million people a day that he influenced 20 million people every single day. The highest rated ever talk radio show in the history of the United States, airing on over 600 radio stations across the country, including some massive radio stations. It started in 1988 and has never looked back. And people were skeptical of whether or not people actually wanted to hear the conservative point of view over terrestrial radio. Rush Limbaugh kept the Reagan revolution, which is a grassroots, people centered revolution, alive for decades. When Obama swept into office in 2008 with a mandate and Democrats and House, Senate and the House coming alongside of was Rush Limbaugh. That was the number one thorn in the side of the Obama administration. Daily Rush would go on warning against what Obama was going to do to the country using comedy, levity, lightheartedness. Let's play the two cuts here of President Trump talking about Rush just a couple moments ago. President Trump, are you with me?

Rush Limbaugh (31:28)

I am.

Sean Hannity (31:29)

And it was a great honor to do so. When we gave the Medal of Freedom, it was something special. It was an incredible night. We gave it during the State of the Union address. And it was especially half the room. Half the room went crazy. And the other half the room, they knew, they knew he should get it. But it was special and he was special.

Charlie Kirk (31:52)

Let's play the next clip.

Sean Hannity (31:55)

Rush is irreplaceable, unique. He had an audience that was massive. And you know, he could do something, Bill, and he would he would get up in the show and would just talk. He wouldn't take phone calls where, you know, people would call in every two minutes. And that's sort of easy to do. He would just talk for two hours and three hours, just talk. And that's not an easy thing to do.

Charlie Kirk (32:21)

And, and being able to do that uninterrupted, put him as the leader of the conservative movement. If Rush Limbaugh went after you, your political career could basically be over. Mobilizing the American conservative grassroots in a way that no one has ever done before. Keeping the Voice alive. And he was the man that kept America free. Who else but Rush had can say for 30 years, he was able to keep a consistent message, a following, keep people engaged and dedicated around conservative values. Not the Bush family, a couple authors here and there, but the daily drumbeat kept people over a course of almost a short lifetime, 30 years engaged and interested in, in American politics. The. The country is already reacting. The left is celebrating and trending things on Twitter that are disgusting in nature. And you could tell by the way the left reacts to Russia's passing at how big of a threat he was to them. You could tell by how nasty and how mean that they are being right now and how effective he actually was. Many of whom have never met Rush. They only knew some caricature of what they were supposed to hate based on some television clip. And despite many calls for his cancellations throughout years, he only grew in strength. It seems as if listening to him just a couple months ago, he was still in his absolute stride. I want to play cut 43. Rush Limbaugh speaking at our Turning Point USA Student Action Summit. Why is Make America Great so controversial? Play cut 43.

Rush Limbaugh (34:35)

Make America great. Why? Why is Make America Great so controversy? Stop and think a minute. Who could oppose it? Somebody comes along and says, I want to make America great again. Why is that controversial? Why in the world is that controversial? And then somebody comes along and says, I think we ought to be America First. Again. Why is that controversial? Why do people oppose America First? Why do people oppose Making America Great Again? I'll tell you why. The people who think Make America Great Again is not good think that it is a throwback to 200 years ago America. They think that it is code for taking America back to the days when it was manifestly unfair. Racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe. It is not that Make America Great Again is. Let's get back and restore the principles of the founding. America first is based on the solution and the submission that America is the solution to the world's problems. It is not the problem. The left in America, the left around the world, thinks America is the problem, and we're not. When America leads, when America triumphs, when America prospers, the world does greater than ever.

Charlie Kirk (35:57)

That was at our turning point, USA Student Action Summit, where Rush was articulating very eloquently that when America succeeds, the world succeeds. Who could possibly be against the phrase make America great? You could see in the way that he just did that description at our event exactly why the left needed to rise up against him in such awful ways. Because as long as Rush Limbaugh was talking on radio, their totalitarian takeover was in jeopardy. As long as Rush Limbaugh kept on broadcasting, he was adding transparency to their theft. We talked about yesterday about a secret ballot that very well might have happened which would have got Donald Trump indicted. But the fact that there was a public ballot ensured that Donald Trump was acquitted because they didn't want to face their voters. But do you know who else the Senate Republicans are afraid of? When the Senate Republicans were thinking about selling America for a cheap price and Senate Republicans were thinking about doing policies or voting for bills that might have been dangerous to our country, they whispered to each other, what if Rush does a segment on us and it made them stop for a minute. He's a man who kept Republicans in check, kept the conservative grassroots engaged. Let's go to cut 46. Sean Hannity saying there would be no talk radio or even Fox News without rush. Cut 46.

Sean Hannity (37:46)

There is no talk radio as we know it. Without Rush Limbaugh, it just doesn't exist. And I'd even make the argument, in many ways, there's no Fox News or even some of these other opinionated cable networks. And he did. He literally did something that nobody at the time ever thought was possible.

Charlie Kirk (38:10)

And that's exactly right, that without Rush and his contribution to the American conversation or the Zeitgeist, you could say

Sean Hannity (38:25)

the

Charlie Kirk (38:25)

country would be in a much different place. So why didn't Senate Republicans and the Gang of Eight pass amnesty back in 2014? Or is it 2013? It's because Rush Limbaugh did three hours of radio on it. Senate Republicans and Congressional Republicans in their most private moments would confide and say, you know, it's one thing if they run a bunch of ads against us if we vote a certain way, but if Rush goes after us, that'll be the end of our political career. He kept politicians in check. Democrats couldn't stand how effective Rush Limbaugh was, mind you, all of this was created before social media, before that sort of distribution. So you had to really earn your audience through terrestrial radio. You had to keep your audience. You had to persuade people to keep on tuning in again. I mean, there was a lot of options on radio, and he grew to mainstream stations all across the country using humor, using wit, and the impact is absolutely incredible. I'm going to get to another cut here. Let's go to cut 40, the State of the Union medal ceremony. Cut 40. A longtime personal friend of President Trump's there was this State of the Union first.

Sean Hannity (39:55)

I am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Charlie Kirk (40:12)

That was when Rush Limbaugh received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. So this is a wake up call for a lot of us. We must mourn and grieve and remember. Then we must get back to action. Rush Limbaugh bought us some time. Without Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump would not have won the presidency in 2016. Without Rush Limbaugh, you do not have Justice Kavanaugh. You don't have Justice Gorsuch. You don't have Amy Coney Barrett. You don't have Clarence Thomas, which happened right in the middle of Rush Limbaugh coming to fame in the radio. The radio world, the model was completely and totally unproven. You're trying to tell me one guy is going to talk uninterrupted and make his own jokes about the news of today, and people are gonna want to listen to that. We can sell advertisers to that. No, people want music. People want maybe a daily rundown, a little bit of a funny show with a couple people here and there, and then that's it. Even liberals who now call themselves in the intellectual dark web, like Eric Weinstein or any of those people, they all follow in the footsteps of Rush. Anyone who's in long form podcasting follows in the footsteps of Rush. Rush was podcasting before podcasting. It was deliberate, it was detailed, it was long had its own flavor, its own style, for a very specific purpose and for a reason. Because Rush trusted the listeners enough that they wanted more than just political popcorn. And if you listen to Rush and you really listen to him two years ago, three years ago, in the midst of Donald Trump, under duress, and you look at the deep philosophy, the analysis, it's the best that was out there, seeing exactly what motivates the left going a level deeper, asking the proper questions, analyzing the proper, the information correctly. Bringing people to a higher level of engagement and expertise. And so in the next segment, I want to explore what are the main lessons? I also want to remember some of the best moments. We have some great cuts here of Rush Limbaugh handling some liberal callers, but what are the main lessons that we can take that we can apply to our own life and to the conservative movement? Right now, all of you listening to my words right now are listening to these words because of Rush Limbaugh, the man who pioneered this medium, who fought daily and valiantly for the country, for freedom, for conservative values. I want to play some tape here. Let's play Cut. I want to first start with cut 49. It's a longer cut. Catherine Limbaugh announcing Rush Limbaugh's death today on radio cut 49.

Catherine Limbaugh (43:18)

From today on, there will be a tremendous void in our lives. And of course, on the radio. Rush loved our miraculous country beyond measure. An unwavering patriot, he loved our United States military, our flag, our Constitution, our Founding Fathers. He proudly fought and defended conservative values. And in a way that no one else can, Rush often stood up and took arrows on his own because he knew it was the right thing to do. Rush encouraged so many of us to think for ourselves, to learn and to lead. He often said it did not matter where you started or what you look like. As Americans, we all have endless opportunities like nowhere else in the world. Rush gave us hope that through hard work and determination, we can overcome the obstacles in our lives and be our best. Many of you started small businesses, pursued personal dreams because Rush gave you the faith that you could. He made the most complex issues simple to understand. While making that level of genius look easy, it most certainly was anything but easy. Irreplaceable, remarkable talent. On behalf of the Limbaugh family,

Sean Hannity (45:20)

I

Catherine Limbaugh (45:20)

would personally like to thank each and every one of you who prayed for Rush and inspired him to keep going. You rallied around Rush and lifted him up when he needed you the most. I am certain, without a shadow of a doubt, if he could be here today, he would be. He loved you and he loved this radio program with every part of his being.

Charlie Kirk (45:56)

Amazing. Catherine Limbaugh announcing the death of Rush Limbaugh, her husband. Let's go to cut 48 of President Trump and what Rush told him right after the November 3rd election. Cut 48. Harris, what did Rush Limbaugh tell you after the election of November 3rd? What were those conversations like?

Sean Hannity (46:23)

Well, Rush thought we won, and so

Charlie Kirk (46:25)

do I, by the way.

Sean Hannity (46:27)

I think we won substantially. And Rush Thought we won and he thought it was over. At 10 o', clock, 10:30, it was over. And a lot of other people feel that way, too. But Rush felt that way strongly. And many people do, many professionals do. And I don't think that could have happened to a Democrat. You would have had, you would have had riots going all over the place if that happened to a Democrat. We don't have the same support in the, at certain levels of the Republican system, but we have great people as Republicans.

Charlie Kirk (47:02)

And let's go to a little bit back in the wayback machine. Cut 47. Rush Limbaugh just going after a liberal caller. This was Rush at his best. Cut 47 starting.

Sean Hannity (47:13)

You weren't upset when Clinton was being investigated for Ben Begazi incident. You wanted a full investigation for that, didn't you?

Rush Limbaugh (47:23)

Yeah. There's all kinds of evidence there that she had been derelict in her duty. Four people died in Benghazi because. Is this the best you've got to sit here and claim that. I was interested in getting to the truth about Benghazi where four Americans died because of the incompetence and laziness of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who was off the grid during the whole time. We couldn't even think find him. And you think because I wanted to get to the bottom of that. I don't want to get to the reason. There's no bottom here, Fred. The problem with this is there is no bottom. You just said the investigation just began and you don't know that if we've been reading the media. This investigation has been going on since even before Trump was nominated. Comey said today, this investigation going on since last July. Friend, old buddy. Oh, pal. This is a hell of a long time to have no evidence whatsoever. There's no bottom to get to here. And I'm not scared, Fred. I don't do scared. I am pissed.

Charlie Kirk (48:32)

Amazing. We're now, wait, we're actually going to get some clip here of Rush in his final broadcast. But before we do that, let's go to cut 50 of President Trump calling into Russia's radio show to congratulate him on 30 years. Cut 50.

Sean Hannity (48:50)

Rush, I just wanted to congratulate you on 30 years. This is your favorite president and I think you are fantastic. And I heard about it and today is the big day. 30 years. I wanted to call personally and congratulate you.

Rush Limbaugh (49:05)

I am floored. I, I thought there was nothing anybody could do to surprise me today. I've been Preparing for anything.

Sean Hannity (49:13)

Mr. President, very special man. Russian, you have people that love you. I'm one of them. But you're a very, very special guy. What you do for this country. People have no idea how important your voice is. So I just wanted to personally make this one. And I said, I'll even dial the number myself if I have to. But I just want to congratulate you. 30 years and that tough business is incredible. And you're stronger now than ever before.

Rush Limbaugh (49:38)

Well, I thank you so much. It's such a thrill to hear from you.

Charlie Kirk (49:42)

And so, man, will that, will he be missed? Let's go to cut 42. President Rush Limbaugh speaking right before President Trump at our Turning Point USA Student Action Summit. Cut 42.

Rush Limbaugh (49:57)

Folks, we're not in a standard political environment where the Democrats win and then the Republicans win. We share power, we trade power. We are in a war. We are in a war for the kind of country America is going to be. There's always going to be an America. But the war being waged now is aimed at overturning, overthrowing the principles of our founding. That is what the left is attempting to do.

Charlie Kirk (50:28)

And now, taped from Russia's last broadcast, which was two days before Christmas, December 23, 2020, we want to take you back to the end of December. This is December 23, 2020. And this was part of Russia's final broadcast. He would not know it then, but we all know it now. Listen,

Rush Limbaugh (50:51)

my point in all of this today is gratitude. My. My point in everything today that I share with you about this is to say thanks and to tell everybody involved how much I love you from the bottom of a sizable and growing and still beating heart. And there's room for, for much more. All because I have, I've learned what love really is during this. You know, I have a philosophy. There's good that happens in everything. It may not reveal itself immediately. And even in the most dire circumstances, if you just wait, if you just remain open to things, the good in it will reveal itself. And that has happened to me as well.

Charlie Kirk (51:45)

The good in it will just reveal itself. It's amazing. It's last broadcast. Let's go to cut 51. Tucker Carlson talking about the void left by Rush's death. But before that, you think about what Rush just said in that clip, that he was filled with gratitude for his listeners, for the people that defended him, for the people that believed in him. And little did he know that was gonna be his last broadcast ever to the largest radio audience ever assembled in the history of talk radio. Let's play cut 51.

Sean Hannity (52:25)

Tucker Carlson Outsourced its, you know, philosophical exposition, its explaining of their beliefs to Rush Limbaugh. And I don't mean that as a criticism of anybody. It's just true. It's like you didn't have to explain what it meant to be a conservative when Rush Limbaugh was doing it better than you could. And so now that he's gone, you have to sort of wonder, like, is there? And again, I'm not taxing anybody. But since your question, is there any elected Republican in the Congress right now who could stand up in front of a microphone and tell you in 10 minutes why it is you vote Republican or why it is you're a conservative or what it is you believe or what America's about? I mean, maybe there is. I haven't seen that person, and I know all of them. So it does leave a real void because that's important. I mean, you know, people have instincts, but they need words to make those instincts make sense. Right? You have to articulate something in order to really understand it. And that was his job for the country.

Charlie Kirk (53:28)

Tucker, you mentioned going. His job was to articulate people's natural instincts for half the country. That is perfectly said. And that's what he did every single day. People had a feeling about things. They saw something in the New York Times or they read something in the morning. Millions of people lived this pattern. They woke up, they got ready for work, they turned on the news and they heard some liberal talking head say something they knew wasn't true. It bothered them. And their instinct said, I don't like that. They got in the car and went to work, and it bothered them the whole day. And they thought to themselves, at least the morning, and they said, there's something not right about what I heard there. Then 11 o' clock rolled around Eastern and 11:30 and 11:45, they looked up at their clock and they said, in 15 minutes, I'm going to see if someone can put words to my instincts. They turned on that radio and Rush articulated exactly what their instincts were feeling. He put words behind their deeply held beliefs and he took the arrows for all of us. Winston Churchill, the man who saved Western civilization, said, quote, without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning. Rush Limbaugh had courage. Rush Limbaugh stood up every single day and said what so many other people were thinking. Rush Limbaugh was unafraid to articulate the politically incorrect issues of the day. And so when people were bombarded over the weekend with their liberal family or their relatives, people would Start to get a little anxious. And they just knew that on Monday at 12 o' clock Eastern, they could turn on the dial and that famous music would begin and the introduction would say, and now the doctor of democracy from Mission Command in sunny South Florida, Rush Limbaugh. Though we start with some grandiose introduction. Introduction and get right into it. And his lead was always, can't miss radio his first 15 minutes. So whatever Rush led with was talked about everywhere. It spread. Now, a lot of people listen to the show all the way through, but the lead itself was the most listened to part of radio probably in American history. That's right. When people got on their lunch breaks on the west coast, some people were just getting to work and they'd wait in their car a little bit. I knew one guy in Los Angeles who worked for a big corporation and part of his negotiation was that he could get into work every day at 9:30 as part of his negotiation. In fact, I was just texting with him earlier because he was such a big Rush Limbaugh fan. He negotiated with his boss and I don't think he told his wife that he was gonna have to start work 30 minutes later and stay after work 30 minutes later. Why? Cuz he needed his 30 minutes of rush before he got into work every day. I know people that run banks and they had all their employees knew that you do not walk in and interrupt them between 12 or three any day. You could have meetings before 12 or three, but it's called Rush time. I know people. Tom, Patrick and many others have been able to recite chapter and verse at every single topic Rush Limbaugh went throughout the week. He had such a mastery of words. He painted pictures with his diction. He understood the anxiety of a conservative American that was seeing their country be crumbled before them, that was being attacked by powerful liberal forces. With Rush, you always felt like you were on offense. With Rush, you always felt that no matter what was happening around you, you. He was the captain of the ship, he was the head of this mission and it was going to be okay because he exuded confidence and clear solutions. He looked at things very rationally. And then the next segment, he would get into the appropriate amount of sarcasm and mockery that the left absolutely deserved. And sometimes he pushed the boundaries a little bit too far, but then you could still look away because it was all the while incredibly entertaining. But then there were the moments when Rush got very serious. He used humor as a way to communicate, as a way to make it easier to consume but then there were the moments when Rush got down to business, when Brett Kavanaugh was under fire. That's all Rush talked about for three hours a day. Christine Ballsy Ford is what he called it. Went through all the documents, went through all the trials, asking the right questions. And do you know who Senate staffers were listening to in between breaks? They were putting in their headphones to see what was Rush saying. When I would walk the White House to go visit Jared Kushner and to go see the people negotiating Middle east peace, do you know what they were saying at 2 o' clock Eastern in the White House? Hey, what did Rush say today? The White House was looking to Rush for guidance. Rush was not looking to the White House for guidance. That is a man that shaped public policy. That is a man that shaped the daily interaction and behavior of millions of people. A legend, a hero, and full of courage. Thanks so much for listening, everybody. If you want to get involved with Turning Point usa, the organization that Rush himself put his name behind, go to tpusa.com email us your questions freedomarliekirk.com God bless you guys. Speak to you soon.