The Dan Bongino Show - The Bongino Brief - Feb 20, 2021

Episode Date: February 20, 2021

What made Rush Limbaugh so popular? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Bongino. Welcome to the Bongino Brief. I'm Dan Bongino. You know, I don't like to repeat things I said on Fox, but given the tragedy of losing Rush Limbaugh, the godfather, it's important I repeat again that people have asked me often,

you know, what do you think made Rush so popular? And I always give the example of the French expression we've pulled into English, you know, the je ne sais quoi, right? The je ne sais quoi, I use it all the time. And I think the direct translation, I don't speak French, is I don't know what. And what it means is it's a way to sum up the X factor. Like what made Rush Limbaugh so great? And the answer is nobody could tell you if they knew it, they'd be Rush Limbaugh. What was it? That he was, you know, that he was funny?

Limbaugh. What was it? That he was funny? A lot of people are funny. Levin can be hilarious. Limbaugh was funny. So it wasn't just that. A lot of radio hosts are funny and have no audience at all. Was that he understood conservatism? We all understand conservatism. Was it that he told cool stories? I don't know. I'd like to think we all tell cool stories. What was it? Was he, as he said all the time, the big lovable fuzzball? Was that it? Remember that? I don't know.

I have no idea. Je ne sais quoi. But Rush had the quoi. Whatever the quoi is, Rush had the quoi. Whatever the quoi is, Rush had the quoi. If I knew what it was, I'd bottle it and sell it, and I'd be a trillionaire. I have no idea. I know he was special, and I know he's not replaceable. He will be replaced, but he's not replaceable.

There's a difference. All right, just here's a quick video. There's a difference. All right, just here's a quick video. This is just worth playing again today. The great President Donald J. Trump giving the great Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is just a minute of that, and it's just worth checking out again today.

Take a look. Almost every American family knows the pain when a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness. Here tonight is a special man, beloved by millions of Americans, who just received a stage four advanced cancer diagnosis. This is not good news. But what is good news is that he is the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever for our nation, the millions of

people a day that you speak to and that you inspire, and all of the incredible work that you have done for charity, I am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I need you to watch that. I need you to watch it. Just watch the video version of the show. Either you're listening to me on terrestrial radio or some digital platform, audio only. Watch the show, rumble.com slash Bongino.

Not because I need the views or the clicks. That's all secondary nonsense. I want you to watch Rush's face. It's not an act. Rush just was so uncomfortable with public attention directed at him. He was a very private guy. That it's not an act. He really doesn't know how to respond. He doesn't get up and do a dance and take a victory lap. He's almost uncomfortable with all the attention. So he does gestures that I think I or other people

who are kind of uncomfortable with public attention would do too. You give them the salute, the bow, whatever. You don't know what to do. The thank you. And then people keep clapping because it's Rush Limbaugh and you just want them to stop because you're so uncomfortable with the attention. That was Rush. That was Rush. Here's one more. One of the greatest speeches I've ever heard 2009 CPAC I lived in Maryland let me tell you something

I kicked myself in the teeth forever for not going to see this live I could have drove right down I think this was in National Harbor at the time matter of fact I know it was no not National Harbor it was in the other one they used to have it in downtown DC

and they moved it to National Harbor this is Rush's 2009 speech at CPAC. I was watching from my dreadfully laid out living room in Saverna Park that purposely made you uncomfortable. I think the designers quietly hated me. But I watched this and this was just one small snippet of that

CPAC speech, which is the stuff of legend. 2009 Rush Limbaugh. CPAC. For those of you just tuning in on the Fox News channel or C-SPAN, I am Rush Limbaugh, and I want everyone in this room and every one of you around the country to succeed. I want anyone who believes in life, liberty, pursuit of happiness to succeed. And I want any force, any person, any element of an overarching big government that would stop your success. I want that organization, that element or that person to fail.

I want you to succeed. I'm telling you that's one of probably, again, goosebumping out here. This is really weird. Like I'm telling you, this is the goosiest of goosebumps. That's one of probably 200 applause lines in there. That speech, totally off the cuff. He's not even looking at notes. That'll just blow your mind.

2009 Rush Limbaugh CPAC. Just an amazing speech. The Dan Bongino Show. If you'd like to hear more, subscribe to The Dan Bongino Show wherever you get your podcasts.