RUSH: Look at me, ladies and gentlemen. One moment, I, your host, am toast. One moment, the news about me is that I’m hemorrhaging sponsors, hemorrhaging audience, that talk radio itself is dead. It’s over; I’m a has-been. And then the next day, like today, I am the single most powerful person running the media and influencing what Fox News does. Every day, it’s one version of that story or the other. Today what happened, it was over on MSNBC — and, Cookie, don’t get mad at me, because this was not a sound bite. She gets mad when I don’t lift the embargo.
Cookie would love to be able to give me MSNBC bites ’cause they’re good liberal kookery, quackery, whatever. But I don’t want them ’cause I don’t want to publicize ’em and promote ’em. So I’ve got this ongoing ban, and I occasionally lift it. But on the Scarborough show today over there on PMSNBC, they had this guy from the New York Times named Nick Confessore or Nick Confessore or Nick Confessore. I don’t know how he pronounces it. He purposely mispronounced my name. I’m trying to get his name. It’s C-o-n-f-e-s-s-o-r-e. Nick Confessore, Nick Confessore.
Anyway, this guy was asked a question by Mika Brzezinski. The question was, “Who is the most powerful person in the media today?” And this guy at the New York Times said, “Well, I think Fox or Rush Limbaugh,” although he pronounced it “limb-bow.” That had to be on purpose. These guys, after 27 years, they have to know by now. But he said (summarized), “It’s Fox or Rush Limbow, right, in this primary, right?
“I mean, there are two institutions that could have put a stop to Trump — Rush Limbaugh and Fox — and talk radio likes him, and Fox backed down.” So this guy is saying that I, your host — who one day am finished, it’s over, sayonara, see you later, talk radio’s dead, may as well forget about it — today am the most powerful guy in the media, forcing Fox to back down on Trump. And they believe it! This guy’s on MSNBC today saying it; he believes it.
And there was a guy from the Huffing and Puffington Post named Sam Stein who seconded this point of view. Mika Brzezinski told ’em that they’re both wrong. She said that Trump is the most powerful person in media, but that’s not what the question was. The question: “Who is the most powerful media person?” And Trump is not a media person. Of course, he’s a builder and who knows whatever else.