Limbaugh: Republicans in Danger of Being 'Romneyed' by Media

Last week, Rush Limbaugh said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is being “Romneyed” by the mainstream media because they see him as a threat and warned Republicans about the dangers of playing along with liberal and mainstream media organizations leading up to 2016. 

Limbaugh was responding to a GQ Magazine story in which the writer asked Rubio how old he thought the earth was to paint Rubio — and Republicans — as either anti-science or to hurt his standing with his base:

The global warming debate is also set up to cast Republicans as anti-science. The problem is that science has been politicized by the left, and science isn’t science anymore. Science is no different than illegal immigration in terms of the media’s technique. The media is trying to get Republicans to abandon their base. So they love it when all of our Republican candidates say, “You know what, we gotta relax our view on immigration. We gotta relax our view on abortion.” That is designed to have every Republican front-runner screw up and anger his base to the point that they will never trust him and never vote for him. That’s all this is. 

“Essentially what’s happening here is that Rubio is being Romneyed,” Limbaugh said on his radio show. “The press is the Democrat Party, and they are out now to destroy Rubio.”

Limbaugh also compared what the mainstream media was trying to do to Rubio to what they did to Sarah Palin:

Folks, it’s why I told you from the get-go they were scared to death of Sarah Palin. They’re actually trying to do to Rubio what they did to Palin. And that’s why I got so angry when Republicans started beating up on Palin and agreeing with all this, that she was stupid or an idiot, because they fell for it. They fell right in line with the effort to destroy her politically, and that’s what they’re trying to do to Rubio. And he doesn’t need any Republicans joining in the firing squad. 

The mainstream media and the left ridiculed Palin’s kids (including her special-needs child), implied she may have faked a pregnancy, and falsely accused her of being responsible for the attempted murder of then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, which Palin rightfully called a “blood libel.” 

Palin warned Republicans in 2012 about the dangers of playing along with a mainstream media intent on asking so-called “gotcha” questions. During the last Republican primary cycle, the mainstream media effectively destroyed Mitt Romney.

Nearly four years ago — two weeks after Obama defeated McCain — Romney submitted an op-ed against the auto bailout to the New York Times, who slapped a misleading “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” headline on it; four years later, that headline still haunted Romney, sealed his fate in the Midwest, and helped Obama win reelection. 

Later in the primary process, Republicans inexplicably agreed to allow liberal anchors such as NBC’s Brian Williams and Democratic operative George Stephanopoulos to moderate their debates:

I take you back to January of this year. Mitt Romney and the Republican candidates were having a candidates debate as part of the primary process, and out of the blue George Stephanopoulos, no doubt in coordination with the regime, asked Romney a question about contraceptives and whether he would like to ban them. It came out of nowhere. Prior to this debate, and I don’t think at any point in the campaign, had the Republicans said anything about contraception. Now, they were talking about abortion, but they weren’t talking about contraception, and certainly not banning it. 

Limbaugh claims this exchange gave birth to the “War on Women” meme.

Because the mainstream press “went after Romney early” and “really hurt him,” they are trying to do the same to potential Republican 2016 candidates. 

The mainstream media wants to define the Republican field before Republicans can define themselves, which is why Limbaugh warned candidates like Rubio to not accept a “request for an interview from GQ.”

“But if you’re gonna do that, understand what the purpose is. It is to take you out,” Limbaugh said. “You know, I learned a long time ago, these journalists don’t care what you think.

“You can’t impress them. You can’t change their minds, and you cannot use their forum to reach out to their audience. It will not be permitted. What do our candidates gain by talking to George Stephanopoulos? It would be like being interviewed by Carville or Stan Greenberg. What is there to gain?”