RUSH: All right, sir. Let’s see how many of you remember. Pretty much this entire busy broadcast week when the subject of Judiciary Committee hearings for the next Supreme Court nominee have come up, many of you have said, “We need to do it, Rush, we need to have the hearings so that the Democrats do their usual, predictable meltdown and that everybody can see it, everybody can see what the Democrats are doing right before the election. We need to do it.”

And by extension you are saying, “Screw our nominee. Our nominee needs to have a spine of steel. Our nominee needs to be able to take this kind of stuff, our nominee will be able to.” Okay. Fine and dandy. So we need to do things to let the Democrats demonstrate to everybody who they are, as though nobody knows who the Democrats are. We’ve forgotten that the Democrats tried to destroy Kavanaugh. That was just two years ago, not even two. It was 2018.

The rioting in Louisville. Folks, who do you think’s doing that? The Democrats demonstrate every day who they are. One of the real shocking things here is the reality — (interruption) hang on. My watch is going nuts, shelter-in-place has been lifted. Turnpike and Lake — all right, fine. Sorry, folks. My phones are going nuts. We got a public safety alert here on my phone. Let me deal with these here. There. It’s a good thing that I’m technologically competent and don’t panic when this stuff hits.

All right. So the Democrats show us every day who they are. If you want to get down in the — not depressing, but the fact that this party will automatically get 40 to 45% of the vote in any nationwide election, people know who they are. People know what they’re capable of. They are now burning down Louisville. They are doing everything they can, doing everything in Louisville that they did in Portland, that they did in Seattle.

And in the process they’re even taking RBG off the front page. They’re taking the whole Supreme Court thing off the front page. Do you believe this? They are actually demonstrating, they are rioting, they are burning, and they are looting, and they are attempting to kill. They are damaging, they are wounding, they are injuring people, everybody can see it. In the process they have taken everything that was planned for the rest of this week about Ruth Bader Ginsburg off the front page. It’s not above the fold.

If it hadn’t been for Trump going up to the Supreme Court to pay his respects, she wouldn’t be in the news today. Now, how smart is that? And the Democrats are obviously are not worried. One of the reasons they’re not worried about it is the media is blaming the rioting on us. The media is trying to blame all of what’s going on in Louisville on us because they’re saying this is justified based on what happened to Breonna Taylor.

Well, what happened to Breonna Taylor is not what you think happened to Breonna Taylor. It’s as big a miscarriage of media malpractice as was Ferguson and Michael Brown and any of these other — the George Zimmerman story. The people of this country have been lied to from top to bottom, beginning to end about Breonna Taylor. So, anyway, I’m not trying to be snarky. But I just want to bring it to your attention.

There is one time that I will concede, one time where I think the Democrats behaving very near an election, exactly as who they are, came back and bit them, and that was the Wellstone memorial, and that was in 2002. Now, many of you, that’s 18 years ago so you may not have been old enough or in some cases not even born yet. But the Wellstone memorial was a memorial service for a beloved Democrat senator from Minnesota, Paul Wellstone, who perished in a plane crash.

So they did the Wellstone memorial. And it was very close to the 2002 midterms. This is the first midterm election after George W. Bush had been elected. And as in all midterm elections, the party in power — i.e., the Republicans — lose significant numbers of seats in the first midterms. It’s just the way it’s always happened. You elect a president, new president, and two years later, people are fed up with some things that he’s done so they take it out on him by voting for the other party in the midterms.

Well, the Democrats had a meltdown at the Wellstone memorial. And Cookie, I don’t need any sound bites of it. I’ve got more sound bites than I can use today. They literally had a meltdown in the way they handled that whole thing. Republican senators knew Wellstone, they showed up, a lot, to show their respects. They were hounded and harassed out of the arena. The Republicans had to leave for their own safety. It was absolutely incredible. The Republican colleagues of Wellstone had to leave.

I mean, Tom Harkin from Iowa turned the death of Paul Wellstone into the cheapest, rankest, most disrespectful attempt to advance the liberal agenda that I’ve ever seen. And they lost seats. The quick version of the story is the 2002 midterms, Republicans gained seats. And it stunned everybody. It never happens. And so that’s one instance, only one, where I will acknowledge that the Democrats’ behavior — in other words, taking the masks off and telling everybody who they were so close to an election actually came back and bit ’em.

In this case you would hope this would be the case. But the Democrats actually think that if they put on a good showing and destroy the president’s nominee, that it will increase enthusiasm on their side. They really believe that if they do an all-out, better than ever or worse than ever hit job on whoever the nominee is, they think that they’re gonna spark enthusiasm and turnout on their side. That’s what they think their base wants.

If our nominee is literally bloodied and can barely walk out of the hearing room, the Democrats think that that’s gonna be a home run. Whereas many of you think, “Ah, that’s all it’s gonna take, Rush. The American people will find out who the Democrats are.” How can the American people not know who they are? I know you’re gonna shout at me, “Media!

“The media’s not telling them the truth.” Folks, maybe. But the Democrats are flooding the zone. The Democrats are everywhere doing whatever they can, and they’ve been doing it for months. Do you think the American people really think Republicans are rioting and burning down Portland? Do you think the American people really believe Republicans are causing all these problems in Minneapolis and all these Democrat cities and states like New York, Chicago, and Illinois?

As I say, the Democrats are still gonna get automatically — ’cause Plugs has a D next to his name, that’s automatically gonna be — 40 to 45% of the vote no matter what they do. More on this as the program unfolds today, ’cause I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about it. I’ve had make sure that I don’t substitute what I wish and what I think should be happening — i.e., I think the American people by now ought to have no question, no doubt whatsoever who the Democrats are, what the Democrat Party is.

But that’s probably unrealistic, probably wishful thinking on my part, probably not taking into account how the media has lied through their teeth and has done a great job of covering up for the Democrats and hiding who they are even when the Democrats are doing their level best to show everybody who they are.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I, for one, find it fascinating that these Democrats in Louisville have now taken Ruth Bader Ginsburg off the front pages. She is gone from above the fold in newspapers. They have sabotaged their own efforts to undermine Trump’s SCOTUS choice, Supreme Court pick, because everybody’s now focused on what the Democrats are doing in Louisville.

If they try and remove TV coverage of the rioting, Black Lives Matter will have a fit. Meanwhile, Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in state at the top of the steps at the Supreme Court. And had President Trump not gone up there today, nobody would know. Grab audio sound bite number 1 and 1A. The president and the first lady did show up on the top steps of the Supreme Court, and they were greeted with a bunch of chanting, rude, insufferable protesters.

PROTESTERS: (outdoor noise) Honor her wish! Honor her wish! Honor her wish! Honor her wish! Honor her wish! Honor her wish! Honor her wish! Honor her wish! Honor her wish!

RUSH: “Honor her wish.” What are they talking about? Honor her wish? We’ll get to that in just a moment. They were also booing and chanting “Vote him out.” Listen to this.

PROTESTERS: (outdoor noise) Booooo! Vote him out! Vote him out!

RUSH: Man, this is incredible.

PROTESTERS: Vote him out! Vote him out! Vote him out! Vote him out!

RUSH: All right. These people can’t even have a wake. They cannot have a funeral. They can’t have a memorial without acting out, without politicizing virtually everything. And people on our side, “We need to make sure that the Democrats show people who they really are.” They do every day. Don’t you think the American people ought to know by now who the Democrats are? Don’t you think by now the Democrats ought to barely be struggling to get 30% of the vote based on who they are? But no. They’re guaranteed to get 40 to 45 just ’cause there’s a D next to somebody’s name on any ballot. (interruption) No, no. I’ll get to “honor her wish.” This is a story from Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s granddaughter about why she hung in there.

And it has to do with Mrs. Clinton, it has to do with the fact that she wanted to wait, she wanted to have Hillary announce her replacement. She wanted to give Hillary Rodham, the first woman president, Ruth Bader Ginsburg supposedly wanted the first woman president to name her replacement. So Justice Ginsburg hung in there and hung in there and hung in there. And we know how it turned out. Hillary was not elected. The Democrats have refused to engage in a peaceful transfer of power since 2016.

And these spoiled-brat kid protesters who don’t even know what they’re talking about are running around, “Honor her wish. Honor her wish.” It’s not her seat, you people. It is not Justice Ginsburg’s seat. Justice Ginsburg doesn’t get to determine who her replacement is. She doesn’t get to determine who names the replacement. She could have resigned. She could have retired when Obama was president and spared everybody all this. But no. The granddaughter says she wanted to make sure that the first woman president got to name her replacement.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: The Democrats in the media and a bunch of Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee are really worried that Dianne Feinstein is too old to lead the effort to destroy Trump’s judicial pick.

She’s too old. She’s too out of it. She’s lost it. She’s lost the fire. She’s lost the brimstone. They asked her about it. “Are you too old to do this?” She said, “I don’t think so. I… No. I — I’m raring and ready to go here.” (Snort!) Do you believe this? Their nominee is a mummy. Their presidential nominee is a mummy that they have to hide starting at 9:30 every morning, and they’re worried about Dianne Feinstein being too old to run the destroy mission against Trump’s judicial pick?

You know who would be next in line if they somehow edge her out? It would be Pat “Leaky” Leahy. That’s the nickname we gave him (also Senator Depends) because this guy used to leak government secrets like you can’t believe, except he cannot become the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee ’cause he’s already got that position on another committee.

So then it would go to Dick Durbin. So they went to Dick Durbin and they said, “Hey, do you think Senator Feinstein is too old for this? Do you think you should move in?” He very wisely said, “I haven’t heard anything about this. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think Senator Feinstein’s up to it. Whatever she wants is fine. Not gonna go there.”

But I just find it ironic and funny that they’re worried that Feinstein is too old to lead the effort to destroy whoever it is, Amy Coney Barrett or Barbara Lagoa.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I got a couple of emails during the break. “Why do you keep harping on this? Why do you…?”

Let me tell you why. Because I don’t think there ought to be five minutes of hearings into Trump’s nominee. There don’t have to be, and there shouldn’t be. Why should we give the Democrats the chance? Everybody knows this. This is the amazing thing. Even Senator Graham. He knows what’s gonna happen, and he’s openly saying, “We need to be fair and give them a chance to register their opposition.”

I’ll tell you what’s going on. Everybody thinks the Democrats are gonna blow it up. They’re gonna self-immolate. They’re gonna start themselves on fire. They’re gonna just blow it, on the basis that the American people are gonna see who the Democrats really are. How do they not already know? Why? We know what they’re gonna do.

They know what they’re gonna do. They’re openly bragging about how they’re gonna do it, and we’re knowingly going to send a perfectly fine, great woman into this? “She can handle it, Rush! She’s a tough cookie. She’s been through this. She been vetted before.” Folks, I don’t care. You think Kavanaugh enjoyed it?

Kavanaugh, he was prepared, too, I’ll guaran-damn-tee you. You think these people enjoy this? I’ll guarantee you that Sonia Sotomayor doesn’t know what this is like and Elena Kagan doesn’t know what this is like. No other Democrat nominee knows what this is like because they’re never put through it. And they’re always confirmed 96 to 3, 98 to 2, whatever it is.

The Republicans always showed deference. Okay, Democrats won. They get to pick who they want. We’ll go through the hearings. We’ll try to keep our base satisfied with some tough questions. But the Republicans don’t try to destroy anybody’s life, their career, their resume.

Everybody here knows what’s gonna happen, and they still, “Bring it on, let it happen.” And it must be, folks, because the Republicans on the committee and the Republicans here or there think that it’s gonna be really beneficial if the Democrats blow up, if the Democrats lose it, if they savagely mistreat whoever the nominee is, the American people are not gonna be tolerant of it, the American people aren’t gonna put up with it, the American people are gonna see it and it’s gonna really hurt the Democrats.

You mean they’ve forgotten what Kavanaugh went through? They’ve forgotten who did that to Kavanaugh? They’ve forgotten what Dianne Feinstein did and Blasey Ford and all the rest of them? So I don’t think there should be a day of hearings. I don’t think the Democrats have done anything to deserve it. In fact, after what they did to Kavanaugh, they have to right whatsoever. And when everybody knows what they’re going to do.

So that’s why I’ve got this bug that I’m not letting go of this. The idea that we’ve got to continually subject people on our team to search-and-destroy missions like this just so we can illustrate to the American people who the Democrats really are.

Let’s see. There’s one sound bite that I want here. This was this morning on NPR Morning Edition. The host is Steve Inskeep. He’s talking to Delaware Senator Chris Coons about this open Supreme Court seat.

INSKEEP: Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio host, has been suggesting to the Republicans they should move this so quickly they don’t even bother with a hearing, which would be before your committee. I’d like to know what the rules are, Senator Coons. Is there any rule, any law, any requirement that there must be a hearing for whoever the president nominatives?

COONS: The Constitution provides that the Senate shall give advice and consent, but there is nothing in the Constitution that gives the contours of exactly what that means.

RUSH: Answer to the question: No. There’s no requirement that there be Judiciary Committee hearings. There is tradition, but there is no constitutional or any other legal requirement. Here is the chairman of the committee, Senator Graham. He was on Fox & Friends this morning. Ainsley Earhardt said, “Can you tell us more about the timeline for the hearings and the vote on the president’s nominee?”

GRAHAM: We’re gonna make sure that the Democrats get a chance to challenge the nominee, not abuse the nominee. I want it to be meaningful. I want it to be challenging. But we’re not gonna let it become destructive as it was in Kavanaugh.

RUSH: How you gonna stop it?

GRAHAM: My goal is to get the nominee through the committee process with a meaningful hearing, a probing hearing, get it to the floor in time for Mitch McConnell to process the nomination, get a final vote before the election.

RUSH: “We are going to make sure the Democrats get a chance to challenge the nominee, not abuse the nominee.” They don’t know anything but abuse. In fact, they’re bragging about it. They are telegraphing it. They are promising it to their base. Folks, if this nominee goes through, if it’s Amy Coney Barrett or even Barbara Lagoa, if it goes through, then there is a minimum guaranteed 5-4 conservative majority, and depending on Roberts and how he falls on issue to, could be 6-3 now and then.

That’s ball game for Democrats. And if it’s Barrett, it could be the first step in getting rid of Roe v. Wade, overturning that. They’re not gonna sit there and be polite. I don’t know. We’re gonna give ’em a chance, a chance to challenge the nominee but not abuse the nominee. I want it to be meaningful. So Senator Graham obviously does not want to be the guy that appears to be unfair and partisan by saying there aren’t gonna be any hearings here. I understand that, I guess.