RUSH: And grab sound bite number 23. Folks, it’s Steve Bannon. I don’t think I’ve got enough time for this. Do I have 35 seconds or a minute 35 left? How much is left in this segment? Oh, good, we do have time. Okay, Wall Street Journal guy’s on CNN this afternoon, John King speaking with political correspondent Michael Bender, Wall Street Journal. The question’s longer than the bite. He’s asked about the Alabama election and what happened there. And here’s the point of it.

BENDER: The base is still there. I mean, Rush Limbaugh was on the radio yesterday, he’s not talking about the problem with Steve Bannon, he was talking about the problem with Mitch McConnell. And Bannon, from his point of view, he’s rallying the troops. He’s a controversial figure, say what you want about him, but one thing that’s undeniable is he’s a very dynamic speaker, he’s a motivate the troops kind of guy, and that’s exactly what he’s doing right now.

He’s telling folks that what the Moore race showed is that you have to be ready to beat the Democratic establishment and that the Republican establishment will play just as dirty as the Democrats. And he’s telling all the guys too that you have to be ready to face sexual stuff, you have to be ready to face these sexual questions —

RUSH: What in the world is he talking about?

BENDER: — and, you know, you have to be ready and want to do this more than anything.

RUSH: I didn’t say any of this. Is he talking about me or Bannon? He’s upset that I didn’t criticize Bannon for being to blame for what happened in Alabama, and goes on to say that I’m — I never said any of that. Where do these guys get this? I never said one thing about Bannon or McConnell on the Alabama race, not a single thing. And because I’m not jumping all over Bannon, of course, I guess I’m saying what Bannon says? This is incontrovertible.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Look, I want to hear this again. I was under time constraints, and I’m not… Let me read the question. The question is very, very long. John King is talking to this guy from the Wall Street Journal whose name is Michael Bender. They’re talking about the Alabama Senate race, what it means for the 2018 midterms. King says, “You have a great piece in the Journal about how a lot of Republicans hope that people get the message. The message of: If Steve Bannon says, ‘Please run,’ say ‘no.’ Now, think about people who can win statewide.

“Don’t make the Roy Moore mistake again. If you’re Mitch McConnell, you’re hoping that candidates looking to primary incumbents say, ‘Okay, for the good of the party, let’s not have a bloody primary. Not happening.'” So I guess… I don’t even understand the question. I guess King’s asking this guy… This guy wrote a piece claiming that since this went belly up in Alabama, you’re to ignore Steve Bannon down the road and listen to Mitch McConnell.

And don’t primary establishment guys anymore and stop this nonsense and let Mitch have his way. Is that basically what the question is? (interruption) Okay, so that’s the question. So here’s this guy Bender answering this premise. And I’m still in a fog here because if he’s talking about me, I didn’t say one word of this. I didn’t even harp on McConnell! I didn’t spend a whole lot of time lamenting the reasons for this. Anyway, let’s listen to what he says again.

BENDER: The base is still there. I mean, Rush Limbaugh was on the radio yesterday. He’s not talking about the problem with Steve Bannon. He was talking about the problem with Mitch McConnell. And Bannon, from his point of view, he’s rallying the troops. He’s a controversial figure. Say what you want about him, but one thing that’s undeniable is he’s a very dynamic speaker. He’s a motivate-the-troops kind of guy —

RUSH: Stop the tape! I have never… It’s not that I don’t think. I have never called Bannon a “dynamic speaker” or anything else. I have never said that Bannon’s great at rallying the troops and you should listen to him. I’ve never… (interruption) Oh, he’s talking about me being a dynamic speaker? (interruption) And I’m rallying the troops to do what, support Bannon? I’m rallying…? (interruption) No, this guy’s ripping me! (interruption) This guy’s ripping me because I didn’t rip Bannon. He claims I ripped McConnell and I should be ripping Bannon. So I’m getting ripped here for something he doesn’t think that I did.

Anyway, here’s the rest of this…

BENDER: …he’s a motivate-the-troops kind of guy — and that’s exactly what he’s doing right now. He’s telling folks that what the Moore race showed is that you have to be ready to beat the Democratic establishment and that the Republican establishment will play just as dirty as the Democrats. And he’s telling —

RUSH: Stop the tape! Did I say that? What is it? He says, “[W]hat he’s doing right now. He’s telling folks that what the Moore race showed is that you have to be ready to beat the Democratic establishment and that the Republican establishment will play just as dirty as the Democrats.” Uhhh, I talk about the ineffectiveness of the Republican establishment! I talk about how there’s hardly any difference in the two. I’m at a total loss, and I know this guy didn’t pick this up from listening to me. But I’m still not sure who he’s talking about. Here’s the rest of it just for the heck of it…

BENDER: And he’s telling all the guys too that you have to be ready to face sexual stuff, you have to be ready to face these sexual questions, and you know, you have to be ready and want to do this more than anything.

RUSH: Well, that sounds like he heard somebody giving advice to future candidates. “If somebody’s gonna say you sexually harassed, you gotta be ready for it and you gotta have…” I did not say this. You still think he’s talking about me there? (interruption) How can you? You were here yesterday, and you know that I didn’t say any of that. Bannon’s talking like that, but I’m not — and he’s getting mad at me for not ripping into Bannon? (interruption) I guess. Well, obviously he’s projecting into what he wants me to do. Everybody wants me on their team. I understand that.

And since what I said yesterday didn’t make this guy think I’m on his team, I must be on Bannon’s team. I’m having to search the deep, dark crevices of my memory for what I said about this Alabama thing yesterday, but when I was talking about… (interruption) That’s what it was! That’s what it was. People were crabby, blaming me because I didn’t endorse Moore and because I didn’t tell people to go out there and vote for the guy. That’s right. That’s right. They were blaming me. Exactly right. Oh, well. (sigh)

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: What am I being — you didn’t upset me. Cookie’s all upset that I don’t understand the sound bite from this Bender guy. She sent me a note saying that she thinks Bender in the last half of the bite’s describing Bannon, not me. Maybe, I can’t tell. But now she sent me a text, by the way, not on a ham radio frequency, she sent me a text, she’s sorry she upset me. You didn’t upset me! People that don’t know how to communicate upset me. Everything’s upsetting me today!