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<\/p>\nRUSH: I\u2019ve been chomping at the bit to get here ever since last night, folks, and we\u2019re finally here. EIB, Open Line Friday. Let us get started.<\/p>\n
JOHNNY DONOVAN: And now, from sunny South Florida, it\u2019s Open Line Friday!<\/p>\n
RUSH: And for those of you new to the program, Open Line Friday in the normal course of events was an opportunity for people to talk about whatever they wanted to talk about. Didn\u2019t have to be anything that interested me. It\u2019s kind of out the window now because there\u2019s really one topic with a bunch of offshoots that everybody wants to talk about; so the rule is, whatever you want to talk about, whatever observation you have, any questions, comments, let\u2019s hear them — 800-282-2882 is the phone number. The email address, ElRushbo@eibnet.us.<\/p>\n
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So I was just watching Fox here, their Outnumbered show, and David Asman, who I really admire, one of the people on the show. And, by the way, folks, I\u2019m very happy, there are a lot of people — well, not a lot. There are an increasing number of people beginning to pick up my refrain: When is this gonna end? This is not sustainable. This uncertainty cannot go on. What is the future? Where are we looking? When are we looking at reopening?<\/p>\n
And David Asman just said that he wants to hear from Dr. Fauci when we\u2019re gonna be able to. Dr. Fauci? Folks, if it\u2019s left up to Dr. Fauci, we\u2019re not gonna reopen \u2019til a year from September. We\u2019re not gonna open until we get a vaccine, if it\u2019s left up to Dr. Fauci. We didn\u2019t elect Dr. Fauci. Everybody has a lot of admiration for Dr. Fauci. He\u2019s 79 years old, he\u2019s been at the National Institutes of Health, he was instrumental in overcoming the medical blockade that was killing so many people from AIDS and HIV. He\u2019s done great work, don\u2019t misunderstand. But we didn\u2019t elect Dr. Fauci, and Dr. Fauci\u2019s not the guy that ought to be the one determining when we reopen the economy. And we are going to have to do this.<\/p>\n
The jobs report is in. The U.S. economy lost a total of 701,000 jobs in March. And I hate to tell you, the Drive-By Media is crowing about it. You watch them report it, and you almost get the impression they\u2019re happy about it. And it just burns me. I\u2019m gonna have to go a long way in exercising some discipline and self-control today, because there\u2019s just a lot of stuff that is beginning to really trouble me.<\/p>\n
For example, these briefings. The briefings are great. They have been great. But you know what? There\u2019s a sense of permanence setting in on these briefings. And it is obvious that the people in these briefings love the process of the briefings. And we\u2019re not hearing anything about the end of any of this in the briefings. The briefings continue to be focused on the apocalyptic nature of the virus. Governor Cuomo\u2019s briefing just concluded. His was wide-ranging, but it also was a focus on the apocalyptic nature.<\/p>\n
So you want some facts? Here\u2019s some facts. We\u2019ve now surpassed 6,000 deaths. The ballpark number right now, because it\u2019s a moving number, 6,550 deaths; 700,000 jobs lost. That\u2019s as of now, about 100 jobs lost for every death nationwide from the virus. Now, most of the deaths, not all, most of the deaths are of elderly people, people that have underlying health issues or a combination of both. I don\u2019t know how many of the deaths are people, say, working at grocery stores or gas station attendants, liquor store clerks, people working for essential businesses. I don\u2019t know what the death rate is among people working at essential businesses. But it doesn\u2019t seem to be reported to be very high.<\/p>\n
So 6,550 deaths; 700,000 jobs lost. Here\u2019s NBC News and the way they\u2019ve reported it<\/a>. And literally, folks, they are crowing about this, because it\u2019s bad for Trump. In their minds, anything bad for Trump is good. Now, by the way, these unemployment numbers are not as bad as most of them were hoping. They were hoping for worse. In fact, unemployment only went up to 4.4%. Do you realize how much worse off we\u2019d be if there had not been the three years of a roaring economy from 2017 to the present, that cushion? I\u2019m not kidding.<\/p>\n There were media people reporting\/hoping that the unemployment rate would reach 15% to 20%. But despite that, despite the percentage number, the economy lost 700,000 jobs. And NBC is saying that this number only represents the tip of the iceberg, and they added that the worst is yet to come. And I swear, I think they were excited. As journalists get excited by bad news, by doom and gloom, the worst is yet to come.<\/p>\n Let me read to you from the NBC article. “Economists and market participants are in agreement that the April jobs report will better illustrate the havoc wreaked by the coronavirus on the workforce. Some economists are predicting the employment number could be as high as 20 million.” Okay. When I came back to this program on Monday, one of the things that I immediately zeroed in on was the models and how I was made nervous by them, the models that were projecting 2.2 million dead if we didn\u2019t do anything. Then they projected between a hundred thousand and 200,000 dead. And then they upped it to 240,000. We\u2019ve never met the modelers. We\u2019ve heard their names in some cases, but the modelers have never shown up at a briefing to explain their work.<\/p>\n On Wednesday after the dire death models were touted at the White House briefing, I again commented that all we keep getting is this modeling data and wouldn\u2019t it be great if the people doing the modeling actually showed up to explain it? Well, guess what? I have two stories today.<\/p>\n The Washington Post has a story where the modelers now think these numbers are too high. The modelers have gone to the Washington Post to say that they don\u2019t think these numbers are accurate, meaning the 240,000. We know the 2.2 million number is not accurate because that was if we hadn\u2019t done anything, no social distancing, no mitigation. But they\u2019re saying now that the 200,000 to 240,000 death number is not accurate, the very modelers who gave us these – (interruption) Oh, you don\u2019t believe me? Well, let me share with you a couple of headlines here. “Experts and Trump\u2019s Advisers Doubt White House\u2019s 240,000 Coronavirus Deaths Estimate.”<\/a> White House? White House? See how this is working? Experts, Trump Advisers Doubt.<\/p>\n So they put out this number — 200,000, 240,000 deaths — earlier in the week. Now they come along and say, “The Trump White House is wrong!” Well, the Trump White House relied — along with Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci — on the models, which I had a bad feeling about from the get-go. I could play you the audio sound bites of me from Monday and Tuesday if you want.<\/p>\n A second story: “Trump Officials Privately Question White House Coronavirus Death Toll Estimate.”<\/a> The Washington Post and TheHill.com. Two stories — and I\u2019ll tell you what I think this is. I think the media may be trying to set the table to deny Trump credit for lower fatalities. Look, everybody knows how bureaucrats work. You give us a worst-case scenario, 2.2 million but it ain\u2019t gonna be there — a hundred thousand, 240,000.<\/p>\n The computer models predicted… The media, you know, the worse it is, the better for the news, for ratings and what have you — and the worse it is, they think, the worse it is for Trump. I mean, they\u2019re out there wanting a Category 6 hurricane with this stuff. Good for business; bad for Trump. So when the projections of a hundred thousand to 240,000 deaths were announced, CNN Jim Acosta says, “Trump gets it.<\/p>\n “Trump gets it. Trump looks scared.” The media was happy. We had a catastrophe. But now, now the very people that gave us these numbers through the models are now suggesting that maybe they\u2019re not right, maybe the death toll isn\u2019t gonna be that high. I told you on Monday. When this is all over, we\u2019re gonna have a big debate in this country about whether this shutdown was ever even necessary.<\/p>\n It\u2019s gonna be a knock-down, drag-out debate — and remember: The doomsayers, because of psychology, are never wrong. I also want to share with you, before we get too deep into things… By the way, a far-left media group now, Free Press, is actually asking the FCC to censor Trump\u2019s briefings every day<\/a>. More on that. I got an email from a guy that I met.<\/p>\n He lives in Chicago; I met him years and years and years ago. When I met him, his family was very Chicago liberal. He was apolitical, but he followed along with the family. He knew who I was. We became friends. I got two emails from him last night. Normally, I would keep this to myself, but this really profoundly affected me, and it reminded me why I do what I do.<\/p>\n “Rush, you are the only person nationally who is really questioning what is going on. So many of us are gonna be financially ruined from this. And no one on a national level is focusing on that. Rush, please, even if the mainstream media takes snippets of what you say out of context, sensationalize it to make you seem like a creep, screw them!<\/p>\n “Keep it up. Keep going. Keep talking. Your take on all of this calms me down. In over 16 years, I haven\u2019t wanted to throw it all away more than I do right now. But it\u2019s helping me knowing that somebody actually cares, and I really appreciate that you do not have a death countdown on your website.<\/p>\n “You ought to have a live ticker of all the people who have recovered from the virus and survived it. All these media companies are salivating over reporting the devastation of our lives that we have worked endless hours and made immeasurable sacrifices to build. This is the greatest country in the world. You are the only person who seems to be fighting for our way of life.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m gonna continue to write these emails to you because it\u2019s therapeutic for me, and if my emails are annoying, feel free to say, ‘Chill out,\u2019 and I\u2019ll go away. On the positive side, I\u2019ve become a hell of a teacher for my kids. I\u2019ve loved being able to be around them lately. Stay healthy. Keep fighting.”<\/p>\n So I replied — I thanked him — and he sent back another email. This was the follow-up: “Rush, it\u2019s insane. I could go on for hours. It\u2019s driving me crazy. If I end up having to sell my house in a horrible market or if I can\u2019t pay my taxes because of this, I\u2019m gonna have to tell my kids it was because Americans were shamed into becoming Europeans.<\/p>\n “During the blitzkrieg on London, Londoners were less fearful and shameful than we are now, and they were being bombed. Actual bombs could drop from the sky and kill \u2019em at any moment. People like Don Lemon have this permanent, I-told-you-so smirk on their faces. They don\u2019t offer anything substitute or positive. That\u2019s why what you\u2019re doing is important to the average person like me.<\/p>\n “For crying out loud, Rush, you have lung cancer. You of all people could hide. You have every right to hide or go away; cash it in. But instead, you\u2019re actually trying to promote the American way of life. It drives me crazy, especially because I live where I live. How do all these people think America was built, by being complacent and scared and fearful? It\u2019s crazy. Sorry for rambling. I\u2019m just really worried and angry.”<\/p>\n And I totally, totally understand it. I literally… I mentioned this yesterday. I\u2019ve experienced every economic circumstance you can in this country except for pure, abject poverty and uber-billionaire\/multimillionaire kind of wealth. I have had nothing. I\u2019ve been broke. I have been fired a whole bunch of times and so forth. I know what this feels like. I know the abject fear, and it frustrates me to no end.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unsustainable, and I am worried for everybody in this circumstance. I know we have got these bailout and aid packages, but the money is not gonna get to the people as fast they\u2019re trying to get it to people, and there\u2019s some really great work being done in that area. Mnuchin opened the briefing yesterday and was great. He\u2019s gonna try to maintain viability for small businesses, keep payrolls open even when the businesses are closed.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a tremendous objective, and it\u2019s a great effort It\u2019s gonna require a lot of logistical coordination, and I really hope they pull it off. But it still is a really scary thing, and I\u2019ve been through it when the economy was roaring. I\u2019ve been through it in the 1980s, when I was the only one not doing well or one of few not doing well. I\u2019ve experienced it all. I can relate to it.<\/p>\n I know how frightening it is. I know how it\u2019ll tax your self-esteem. I know how it makes you feel worthlessness. I\u2019ve been through all of it. And I despise it, I hate it — and when it\u2019s not necessary, it frustrates me even more. As I say, there are a couple of people now writing, “Hey,” one in New York, “Governor Cuomo, can you start talking about when this is gonna end instead of just the daily apocalypse?<\/p>\n “Can somebody give us some hope? Can somebody give us…?” It\u2019s exactly the theme that I had on the program yesterday. This is starting to effervesce and bubble up out there. It\u2019s going to have to happen. The debate is not lives versus money. The debate is lives versus lives.<\/p>\n BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n RUSH: Hey, take a look at this, folks. Somebody is joining me in my chorus. This is from the Washington Examiner: “Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs…”<\/a> The Freedom Caucus is a conservative group in the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives. “Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs: Get America Back to Work.” Amen!<\/p>\n Let me give a couple pull quotes. “We are crippling our economy and witnessing the destruction of the life savings of entrepreneurs and investors who have created small and medium-sized businesses. At least 10 million workers have lost their jobs over the past two weeks. Friday\u2019s jobs report showed that the unemployment rate worsened by almost a full percentage point in March, and it\u2019s only likely to get worse.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/APP-040320-Covid-10.jpg\")
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<\/a>Then the deaths come in at, say, 60,000 to 80,000, they say, “Oh, my goodness. We were so wonderful! Look at it! Look at it! We lowered the death toll with our social distancing” or whatever. But in the same time here, I think they\u2019re trying to deny Trump credit for the lower failures and all bureaucrats are gonna try to claim here.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/APP-040918-Americas-Anchorman-ADJUSTED.jpg\")
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<\/a>“A quarter of small businesses say they\u2019re close to closing, so millions more workers are expected to be unemployed in the weeks and months ahead. … Currently, state and local governments are attempting to determine what businesses are essential. In the process, they are wiping out the soul of the American economy.” Congressman Biggs says, “It\u2019s time for a new approach, one that values and protects all life.”<\/p>\n