Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh argued that while Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s remarks about George W. Bush and 9/11 were “a vehicle” to “focus attention” on immigration, Democrats picked his comments up in a “bogus” attempt to clear Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from blame for Benghazi, and that blaming Bush for 9/11, something Trump “started” is “to absolve Mrs. Clinton of Benghazi” on Monday.
Rush said, “Okay, Trumpsters, I need to know what you’re thinking here. Donald Trump said that he had to say it, that 9/11 happened while George W. Bush was president. He wished it didn’t, but it did. And the implication was clear that 9/11, if you’re gonna start blaming politicians for things that happen when they’re in office, then how do you not blame George W. Bush for 9/11? And then Democrats immediately picked that up, and applauded Mr. Trump and said, ‘Exactly right. So, if the Republicans are not going to acknowledge that George W. Bush was to blame and was responsible for 9/11, well, then how in the world can Hillary Clinton be blamed for what happened in Benghazi?'”
He continued, “I think that’s so bogus. I think that’s so full of holes. I think it’s Swiss cheese. But I ran it by a lot of people over the weekend, and they think it makes sense. And frankly, I have been shocked at how easy it has been. It really is mind-boggling. It has been easy to talk to people who voted for and supported Bush who say, ‘Well, yeah, you know what? If we’re gonna blame Hillary for Benghazi, I guess we do, to be credible we’ve got to say that Bush had some role in 9/11.’ I’m incredulous. I’m literally incredulous when I hear this. And Jake Tapper, by the way, asked Jeb Bush this very question. … And Jeb’s answer, frankly, was hard to discern.”
Rush then gave his own answer, “Do you remember all of those times that George W. Bush mocked, and made fun of, and stonewalled all those 9/11 investigations? You remember how he refused to participate with the 9/11 Commission? Do you remember how he went to the media and had them cover for him and made it look like he had nothing to do with it? Do you remember how they blamed a video for inciting the anger in the Muslim community that led to 9/11? You remember all of that happening, right? No, you don’t remember it happening because none of it did.”
He later added that Tapper “pulled has pulled a George Stephanopoulos and war on women here, folks.”
Rush also argued, “What we have learned about 9/11, most of the mistakes that were made, happened during the Bill Clinton administration, which is another reason why this comparison has been brought up. Hillary Clinton is running for president, they’ve gotta clear the decks on 9/11, because she’s got this Benghazi albatross hanging around her neck. So the best way to clear her of Benghazi is to blame Bush for 9/11, out of the blue.”
Rush further stated, “But this effort, and Trump’s in on it. I mean, Trump’s got this whole thing started, of blaming Bush for 9/11 so that we can, what? Be intellectually safe when we try to blame Mrs. Clinton for Benghazi? Remember, the whole point of this is to absolve Mrs. Clinton of Benghazi, particularly with those hearings coming Thursday, that everybody is hoping for fireworks.”
He turned back to criticizing Jeb’s answer, arguing, “The establishment is convinced they have to be nice. They have to come off as nice, have to look nice. They can’t be confrontational. They can’t even get mad. If they do, they’re gonna scare the independents and we’re never gonna win anything. So they’re shackled by restraint. ”
Later on, Rush said, “Now to be fair, Trump is resting his assertion on 9/11 that it was lax immigration that allowed the 9/11 hijackers into the country. Well, no question that’s probably true. However, Bush was not president when they got in the country. I mean, they’d made numerous trips in and out of the country. Bush hadn’t been in the White House long enough for there to have been any impact whatsoever. Now, Trump could say, ‘Well, but he wouldn’t have changed anything because we know he’s for comprehensive reform.’ Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it’s still a stretch. So, in Trump’s case, I think it’s a vehicle for spreading his — continuing to focus attention on his number one issue, which is immigration — illegal immigration. But this is kind of weird, I mean, the whole Benghazi situation.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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