RUSH: Last night on Fox News the secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, appeared on a program called The Story with Martha MacCallum, and she asked him a question about me (that’s why I’m playing the sound bite) and here it is…

MACCALLUM: Rush Limbaugh was on radio today. He said that blue states wanted to wreck the economy, and it does appear that in some cases — some cases — blue state governors are more likely to want to stay shut than red state governors. What do you say to that?

MNUCHIN: Well, I hope —

MACCALLUM: Is it political?

MNUCHIN: I hope it’s not political. That would be terrible. I hope that all of these governors care about the American workers, care about American jobs.

RUSH: See, Mnuchin has to say that. He’s the secretary of the Treasury. If the administration wants to speak to this politically, then they’ll send Trump out to do it, or Trump will send himself out or have others in the administration do it. There can be no doubt! There can be no doubt that they are politicizing this. No matter where you look, the objective of this is to cause enough people pain that they want to take it out on Donald Trump.

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RUSH: Here is Jolene in Vancouver, Washington. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Oh, Rush Limbaugh, it is my pleasure to talk to you. Thank you for taking my call.

RUSH: You bet. Nice to have you here. Thank you. Thank you very much.

CALLER: Prayers to you every day. I wanted to talk to you and say that you are correct. The Democratic states are definitely being held hostage at this point with their stay-at-home orders.

RUSH: No question about it.

CALLER: I am from Washington state. Jay Inslee is our governor. And Donald Trump was correct, he is a snake. And our state — I don’t know about any other state — but he has implemented contact tracing. The National Guard —

RUSH: Wait, wait, wait, wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. He has implemented it already?

CALLER: Absolutely.

RUSH: How?

CALLER: It’s supposed to begin tomorrow. It is on the Washington state page. He comes on every day and talks to us about it. I’m not sure the legalities of it, but he is doing it —

RUSH: Well, now, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Forget the legalities. How does it work?

CALLER: Here’s how it works, Rush. He hires probably about 3,500 contact tracers. These are, folks, from the National Guard, the Department of Health, the DMV. They will be coming to your homes and they will be knocking on your door and be asking if they can tape and test you for COVID. Say you don’t want to be tested. There are going to be measures taken if you decide not to cooperate.

RUSH: Now, that doesn’t sound explicitly like what contact tracing is. But look. Hang on.

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RUSH: Now we go back to Jolene in Vancouver, Washington. Jolene, let me explain to you how contact tracing is going to work. I don’t know. I could be wrong. I don’t think it’s been implemented yet. It is a plan that has been offered jointly by Apple and Google and involves a cell phone. Both people have to be cell phone…

What happens is that you go about your life and you interact with people, and somehow because of the tech, you’ll have an app on the phone that will have all kinds of stuff to it. You have to agree to all this, that if you encounter somebody with the virus, you’ll find out — or if you have it, they will find out, and it’s because of the contact that you have it.

It’s one of the ways of finding out who’s walking around with the virus — and there’s a lot of people really upset about this, that don’t think it’s kosher, that it’s a violation of privacy. A lot of people are speaking out against it. People say, “What the hell are Google and Apple trying to really accomplish by jointly going into this?”

It sounds like what’s happening where you live is they just got an army of 3,500 people that are gonna storm your homes and demand to test you. And if you don’t agree, then what are they gonna do? Punish you somehow? What? What happens if you refuse to be tested?

CALLER: If you refuse to be tested, I believe they could then… Their tactics become they can get an arrest warrant. They can… Um, I’ve read the details a couple times, but they could come in… If they decide that your child has COVID or a parent has COVID in the home, they can take the child to a… There’s three facilities that they have ready in Washington state to take, I suppose, children or anyone that needs to be isolated in an area outside the home.

It’s very disturbing here, Rush, in Washington state, what’s happening. A lot of people are very, very nervous. Our governor has taken over as a dictator in some sorts, and it’s becoming increasingly stressful, increasingly, um… You know, restaurants are gonna be required… We can open restaurants, but they’re gonna be required to take our name —

RUSH: Yep.

CALLER: — our address and our emails.

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: I mean, that’s an invasion of our privacy, and that is just another way to not let these businesses succeed.

RUSH: Well, yeah.

CALLER: And so —

RUSH: That is gonna keep a lot of people out of these restaurants. They’re not gonna show up at all if they have to give over their contact data to “the state,” to “the authorities” —

CALLER: Absolutely.

RUSH: — as though they’re guilty of something by showing up at a restaurant, for crying out loud.

CALLER: Yes. It’s just bad here.

RUSH: Now, are you…? Look, are you certain that they can take your kid away from you if the kid tests positive? You gotta be very careful here ’cause I haven’t seen that, and anybody can call here and say anything and be wrong accidentally. I gotta be very guarded on that kind of thing. I’ve not seen that Governor Inslee has a bunch of people that will take people’s kids and babies away if they test positive.

CALLER: Yeah. I guess if I could put you on speakerphone, I could read some of the things that I have, but I can’t put you on speakerphone. But it is disturbing here in Washington state. We wish we could get some help from somebody. Jay Inslee is just going overboard with this stay-home orders. This thing may be getting blown out of proportion with…

You know, it is quite scary, though, to think that, you know, he’s hiring people for the National Guard and all that — and they are great people. They are like you and I, don’t get me wrong, and they’re gonna just be doing a job. But it is a little disturbing when you hear the things that they’re… I could send you some things. You can look some things up on the Washington state legislative page, just some things that he’s implementing.

So, yeah. Very scary.

RUSH: Well, I’m very aware of Governor Inslee and his politics, and I’m aware of his proclivities and so forth, and I’m not… Look, I just have to be careful. I… (sigh) Anybody can call here. Please don’t be insulted, but anybody can call here and say anything, and I just haven’t heard that the governor of the state of Washington has facilitated a bunch of storm troopers to go take people’s babies out of their houses if they’re testing positive.

You could well be right, but I’ve gotta find out for myself. The thing that I would say is that, sadly, you are probably in the minority in your state. I mean, the people of that state elected this guy, and I’ll tell you what I’ve been looking for. All of these blue states, I’m not seeing anybody revolting there. I mean, California, LA County, just shut down through the entire summer yesterday — and all I see is acquiescence to it.

I don’t see anybody bent out of shape about it. I don’t see anybody revolting, I don’t see any revolution. I don’t see anybody particularly upset about it. They just sit there and take it. Same thing in the state of Washington. You’re probably in the minority, people that did not vote for the guy, would not vote for the guy and don’t like him. But the majority of people did.

And so he’s not getting a whole lot of pushback. You know, elections have consequences, and all of that. Anyway, I appreciate the call, and (sigh) I feel for you. This whole blue state situation is so obvious to me. They are willing to do whatever they can — these governors are — to thwart a nationwide economic recovery, all in the service of the project to defeat and get rid of President Trump.

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RUSH: Now, I looked up what’s going on in the state of Washington. We had a nice woman call claiming that Governor Inslee, who really is a… You know, I don’t think the elevator goes to top floor there. An order of fries short of a Happy Meal. He looks like a palooka. I knew he didn’t stand a chance in the Democrat primary. He’s a big climate change, global warming…

That was his signature. But the woman called and said, “He’s implementing new policies, contact tracing, and he’s going to send the National Guard to everybody’s homes, and if your baby tests positive, they’re taking the baby out of the house.” I said, “Wait. Wait.” I stopped her there. I said, “I can’t… I haven’t heard that.” I gotta be very guarded here, because anybody can call and say anything, and some people sound authoritative when they say things, and I have to be very careful about it.

I’ve had a number of people who have since communicated to me, “Rush, I guaran-damn-tee you, if any governor had set up such a policy, you would have been hearing about it because there’s no way a responsible mother and father are gonna let some state-appointed goon come in and take their baby away from them. It just isn’t gonna happen. If somebody had tried it, you’d a heard about it by now.”

But here is what I did find on the contact tracing — and in California, I’m told they have hired upwards of 30,000 people as contact tracers. It is a way to identify people who have COVID-19 and either know it or don’t know it. But it’s a way to identify them so that “action can be taken” one way or the other. So in the state of Washington…

Before I get to that, Apple and Google have joined forces to try to assist in the objective of the program: Contact tracing. And I, frankly, I’ll be honest. I haven’t read. I’ve seen the stories. I’ve seen the blog posts on it. I just haven’t taken the time to delve into them deeply. So I’m not informed enough to tell you exactly how the Apple-Google plan works.

But from what I have gathered, it will require apps on your phone. You’re not identified per se. I mean, there’s not… Your phone is transmitting data about you but not… It’s anatomized. It’s not tied to your name, they say, and it is a way for people who are carrying the virus… It’s a way to learn who they have been in contact with, so that those people can be notified.

That you have been in contact with this schlub over here who was walking around with the virus and you might not have known it. So you need to go get tested now. So it’s being presented as a compassionate way of tracking carriers, and informing the unsuspecting victims of the carrier. So the way it works in the state of Washington, there’s a little graphic here that they have set up.

And it’s a five-step process whereby they attempt to isolate carriers of the virus and keep them at home. It’s confinement upon first symptoms. The minute you become aware that you’ve got the virus, you are immediately confined — and then, whoever you’ve been in contact with is learned, and that’s what your phone does.

Your phone keeps a record by way of Bluetooth and NFC. Your phone, because of the apps that will be on it, it keeps a record of who you’ve contacted. It don’t mean you’ve text messaged them. You’ve walked past them. You have been within six feet of them. It doesn’t mean you’ve sent ’em an email.

It doesn’t mean you’ve sent ’em a text. It means that you were within a certain proximity to them. This is what the Google and Apple apps will do.

And so after you begin suffering symptoms, you confine and then whoever you’ve come in contact with is learned, and they are informed that they have been in contact with somebody carrying the virus. And if they are also symptomatic, then they are to confine themselves. And then testing continues throughout the next two weeks of all these people that have been identified as having been in contact with somebody that has the virus and is carrying it.

But it requires both Bluetooth and NFC and certain kinds of technology that the phones already have on them. Every phone has an NFC chip in it now and every phone has Bluetooth. Well, the smartphones do. Some of the cheap flip phones and the Samsung things don’t. But if you’re talking about anything that’s $400 or more it’s gonna have the tech in it.

As I say, in California 20 to 30,000 people are being hired just to walk around and make contact to try to identify carriers, people that have it may not know it. There’s a lot of people that have this virus that are asymptomatic. And the authorities are very curious about identifying them for the supposed antibody opportunity about it as well.

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RUSH: Michael in Western Florida. It’s a great question. Hi, Michael.

CALLER: Good afternoon. Dittos and prayers, Rush.

RUSH: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

CALLER: I have two quick questions if I can. That’s one more than I told Bo, but it just came up.

RUSH: Well, it depends on whether they’re any good or not. Let’s try one.

CALLER: Sounds fair. Just seeking your opinion on something. Do you think the blue state governors and mayors will face a backlash in November over their arbitrary lockdown rules? Have the Democrats overplayed their hand?

RUSH: Such a good question. And I have to tell you that, based on what I’ve seen now, very little. There has been some pushback in Michigan, but I don’t see anybody in Los Angeles or the Bay Area pushing back.

CALLER: The recent California election, Tuesday?

RUSH: Yeah. Yeah. A Republican won a seat in California. The media is not talking about it.

CALLER: People are aware, maybe.

RUSH: Yeah, that was a Republican seat for the longest time before that babe won it, what is her name, Hill or something. And then she got involved in the thrupple, the sex thing, and they threw her out of there. Surprising. I don’t think that is a reaction to — it could be. I don’t know if it’s a reaction to the governor and the coronavirus. If it is, I’m happy to be wrong about it. But thinking your question, is there gonna be a revolt, all right. Are there gonna be people opening stores in defiance?

CALLER: I’m thinking more in November, will the elections kind of go red instead of —

RUSH: Oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. That. Well, as much ballot harvesting as they do in California, they’ve got so much voter fraud and cheating out there that that is a monumental thing to overcome. I’m sorry, I’ll get you your second question since I misunderstood you.

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RUSH: Here’s Michael in western Florida. You have one more question I’m gonna allow you to ask, ’cause I misunderstood you. I thought, when you asked me if there was gonna be blowback, you meant, “Would store owners open up in defiance? Would business owners violate the governor’s rules?” You’re asking me if I thought —

CALLER: Yeah, if this will carry over into November.

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: Rush, the other question just real quick.

RUSH: Yeah. What is it?

CALLER: Do you think President Trump is still following his gut when it comes to getting the economy restarted? I’m worried he’s listening too much to the Faucis of this world.

RUSH: No, I think he’s following his gut.

CALLER: That’s good. He’s trusted it for this long.

RUSH: No, he’s not listening to Fauci. Look, the position that Trump is in here… He’s calling these blue state governors out.

I’ve got the sound bites here. They’re all out of order so it’s gonna take me awhile to find them, but I’ve got sound bites here of Trump identifying — here. Grab 6 and 7. Here’s Trump last night during a meeting with the governor of Colorado, the governor of North Dakota. And Trump took some questions from reporters. A reporter said, “Yesterday Dr. Fauci was a little cautious about reopening the economy too soon. Do you share his concern?”

THE PRESIDENT: Look, he wants to play all sides of the equation.

REPORTER: When you say Dr. Fauci is playing both sides, are you suggesting that the advice he’s giving —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I was surprised by his answer, actually, because, you know, it’s just to me it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.

RUSH: It damn well isn’t acceptable. If you say we can’t reopen schools you’re telling parents they can’t go back to work, folks. If the kids are gonna stay home because you can’t send ’em to school then the parents can’t go to work, and that, believe me, is the purpose here. The purpose of keeping schools closed is to keep the economy moribund. Make no mistake about it. Trump knows it.

Next he was on the Fox Business Network today with Maria Bartiromo. She said, “Dr. Fauci’s major message that he wants to convey is that the danger is if we skip over the checkpoints and the guidelines to open America again, then we risk danger of multiple outbreaks.”

THE PRESIDENT: Anthony is a good person, a very good person. I disagreed him when I closed the border to China. He disagreed with that and then ultimately he agreed. We have to get the schools open. We have to get our country open. We have to open our country.

BARTIROMO: Do you think your critics want you to keep it closed going into the election?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I do. I do. I think it’s a political thing in addition. If it was up to some people, let’s keep it closed for a long time, okay? A long time and watch the United States go down the tubes. Not gonna happen.

RUSH: So he gets it. He knows exactly what he’s up against here, and he’s up against more than Fauci. He’s up against these blue state governors and he’s up against the media. And the media’s not chump change here. He’s up against a bunch of people — he knows that he’s the target. He knows. He knows there are a bunch of people willing to destroy this country’s economy to get rid of him. No, he’s following his instincts on this. He’s not listening — I mean, you say listening too much to the Faucis of the world. He’s gotta listen to some of it. I mean, there clearly is a health component here. But I don’t think you have to worry that he’s been co-opted which is the nature of your question.

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RUSH: Did you hear what Trump said in that last sound bite we played with Maria Bartiromo? He said Dr. Fauci opposed closing flights from China. He disagreed with that and then ultimately he agreed. That’s kind of newsworthy. I hadn’t heard that before, that Dr. Fauci opposed shutting down flights from Wuhan and the ChiCom virus headquarters.

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RUSH: Jeff, Cuba City, Wisconsin. Great to have you, sir. Hello.

CALLER: Hey, Rush. Nice to talk to you. A blue state finally won. Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the stay-at-home orders.

RUSH: I saw that.

CALLER: So I guess we’re open for business.

RUSH: Until they can find a way to shut you down. They’re already trying to say, well, those justices were all conservatives on that court, as though somehow that disqualifies it.

CALLER: Well, yeah. But they also mandated that all future restrictions to the coronavirus must be approved by your legislature.

RUSH: Meaning lockdowns, shutdowns, that the governor just can’t do this —

CALLER: Right, right.

RUSH: — unilaterally. Yeah, and again, folks, this is Wisconsin. And it was a Supreme Court decision, state Supreme Court with a majority conservative vote. It’s a great teachable moment. And it’s a check on runaway power. Look, the question about will the people in the blue states revolt? It’s a really valid question. Will they revolt to their governors shutting down their livelihood? Revolt, however you define it, ballot box, open up, I don’t know. But it’s gonna be the thing to watch, as far as I’m concerned.