Former President Donald Trump praised conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who passed away Wednesday, as a "legend." With that and other interviews, Trump re-emerged also marveling that impeachment seemed to have boosted his approval ratings.
"He was with me right from the beginning. And he liked what I said and he agreed with what I said. And he was just a great gentleman. Great man," Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
"He was a very unique guy. And he had tremendous insight. He got it. He really got it," Trump said. Later on the show dedicated to Limbaugh, talk show host Mark Levin recalled that the "self-educated" Limbaugh, who had no degree, read voraciously and was devoted to his massive audience as family.
In a phone interview with Newsmax TV host Greg Kelly, Trump said: “Rush Limbaugh thought we won the election. We did win the election. It was disgraceful what happened.”
"We were like a third-world country on election night with the closing down of centers. ... You don't know how angry this country is, and people were furious," Trump said.
Asked by Kelly if he has any plans to run again in 2024, Trump said: “Well, we have tremendous support. I won’t say yet, but we have tremendous support.”
Trump pointed to recent polling showing his approval ratings are up again after Democrats failed to impeach him for the second time.
“I’m looking at poll numbers that are through the roof. … I’m the only guy that gets impeached and my numbers go up,” he continued. “Figure that one out. … Typically, your numbers would go down. They would go down like a lead balloon.”
Trump marveled at the crowd that gathered in Palm Beach to show support for him on Presidents’ Day shortly after the Senate acquitted him.
“It grew out of nothing, and it was thousands and thousands of people,” he said. “There’s tremendous love and tremendous spirit in this country.”
Trump said the Make America Great Again movement he started is still strong.
“The whole MAGA movement, call it MAGA, call it whatever you want, call it America First as opposed to America last,” he said.
Trump also ripped Hillary Clinton: “You know the angriest person in the country today is Hillary Clinton. Because she said, ‘Why didn’t they do that for me?’ Why didn’t they create votes in Michigan? Why didn’t they create votes in some of the states that she lost?”
On Joe Biden’s contention that Trump did not have the covid vaccine, Trump said: “I saw that he said there was no vaccine before he came into office and yet he got a shot before he came into office. So either he’s not telling the truth or he’s mentally gone. One or the other.”
Biden admitted Tuesday that, since moving into the White House, he wakes up every day and asks where the hell he is.
Referring to social media, Trump said: “We don’t want to go back to Twitter,” adding: “I understand it’s become very boring and millions are leaving.”
Trump said his team is looking at different options for a social media return, and is “negotiating with a number of people,” but also intimated that he could build his own platform.
“We’re looking at a lot of different things,” he said.
In the Fox News interview, Trump reflected on his decision to award Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the State of the Union Address last February, just days after the conservative icon announced his Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis.
"It was an idea that we had that a lot of people suggested to me, frankly, a lot of great people of our country, largely Republican," Trump said. "It was an amazing night because the Republicans went wild and the Democrats sat there, but they all respected Rush."
Trump said he met Limbaugh after announcing his 2016 bid for the Republican nomination. According to Trump, the two connected instantly, bonding over their love of golf and mutual commitment to conservative values.
"I got to know him right after coming down the escalator [to announce my candidacy in July 2015]. He was there right from the beginning," Trump said, revealing that he would regularly check in with Limbaugh on the state of his health.
Free Press International
