Talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh on Monday updated listeners on his battle with stage 4 lung cancer, saying he no longer has any illusions about the fact that he’s “under a death sentence.”
The moment: Limbaugh, 69, revealed on his eponymous show that recent scans show his cancer is progressing.
- “It’s tough to realize that the days where I do not think I’m under a death sentence are over,” Limbaugh said.
- “We all know that we’re going to die at some point, but when you have a terminal disease diagnosis that has a time frame to it, then that puts a different psychological and even physical awareness to it.”
According to Limbaugh, he learned the bad news during treatment early this month and the spread is “not dramatic, but it is in the wrong direction.”
- “Stage 4 is, as they say, terminal,” he said. “I never thought I would see October 1. I never thought I would. When October 1 hit on the calendar this year, I reminded myself of that — of that thought.”
- Limbaugh said he was “extremely grateful to be able to” come to the studio and “maintain as much normalcy as possible.”
- “We’re all going through challenges,” he added. “Mine are no better and mine are no different and mine are no more special than anybody else. But it can feel like a roller coaster.”
The reaction: Many Twitter commentators, including Limbaugh’s friend and fellow conservative radio host Mark Levin, responded to the news with sadness and prayers.
But some of Limbaugh’s critics on the left joyfully anticipated his death.
Activist Ricky Davila took the opportunity to slam Limbaugh as a bigot, saying, “He gets no sympathy from me because he has cancer. Nope.”
Michael Savage, another conservative radio host, was similarly unsympathetic, telling Limbaugh to stop “crying about his cancer on air” and “leave the stage with dignity”
- But Savage was quickly set straight by others on the right, like former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who told him to “STFU.”
Fox News contributor Dan Bongino, who recently revealed he too has cancer, suggested to Savage: “Go f*ck yourself asshole.”
Flashback: President Donald Trump awarded Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the State of the Union Address on Feb. 4, one day after the broadcaster revealed his cancer diagnosis.
- “Here tonight is a special man, someone beloved by millions of Americans who just received a Stage 4 advanced cancer diagnosis,” Trump said of Limbaugh, who was in the gallery.
- “This is not good news, but what is good news is that he is the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever meet. Rush Limbaugh: Thank you for your decades of tireless devotion to our country.”
